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S1 George Anderson Coke Jr.
Monument

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S1 George Anderson Coke Jr. Veteran

Birth
Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas, USA
Death
7 Dec 1941 (aged 18)
Pearl Harbor, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA
Monument
Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii, USA Add to Map
Plot
Courts of the Missing
Memorial ID
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Crew member of the USS Oklahoma. Killed in action December 7th, 1941.

Remains of Seaman 1st Class George A. Coke, killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma during World War II, have now been identified.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Coke was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Coke. No single vessel at Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the USS Arizona, suffered as many fatalities.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu'uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Coke.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis.

DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains.

S1 Coke will be buried in Arlington, Texas, next to his parents in Parkdale Cemetery on 24 Jun 2017.
~
Entered the service from Texas.
Crew member of the USS Oklahoma. Killed in action December 7th, 1941.

Remains of Seaman 1st Class George A. Coke, killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma during World War II, have now been identified.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Coke was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Coke. No single vessel at Pearl Harbor, with the exception of the USS Arizona, suffered as many fatalities.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu'uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Coke.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis.

DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains.

S1 Coke will be buried in Arlington, Texas, next to his parents in Parkdale Cemetery on 24 Jun 2017.
~
Entered the service from Texas.

Inscription

S1C, US NAVY WORLD WAR II



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