Posted on: Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Punchbowl markers updated

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The ultimate sacrifice of 528 sailors and others during the attack on Pearl Harbor has been brought into clearer focus at Punchbowl with additional information inscribed on graves marked "Unknown."

While 177 new gravestones still do not identify who is buried there, they refer to the Pearl Harbor attack and the name of the ship on which the individual died. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

A total of 177 replacement gravestones — some representing multiple sets of remains — were put in place Monday and yesterday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific to identify the ship on which those individuals died. The notation of "Pearl Harbor" also was added to the date of Dec. 7, 1941.

The new headstones now bear ship names including California, Oklahoma, Utah, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Curtiss.

"It's history being added to the grave markers," said Ray Emory, chief historian for the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, who has campaigned for years to get more information on the "Unknown" graves at Punchbowl.

Emory's concern has been that when cemetery visitors see the "Unknown" markers, they might wonder where the casualties occurred. "At least now they can tell where (those killed at Pearl Harbor) came from," he said.

U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, who died Sept. 28 and who, as the wife of a World War II veteran, has been buried at Punchbowl, pursued legislation to get 70 headstones changed late last year to reflect the new information for unknowns from the USS Arizona.

At the urging of Emory, who fought on the USS Honolulu during the Dec. 7 attack, Mink contacted Gen. Eric Shinseki, who as Army chief of staff sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs requesting the latest changes, officials said.

Emory isn't stopping there.

These markers have been removed from National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. "Unknown" markers listed only the date of death. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"What I'm going to pursue next is West Loch," said Emory, referring to the May 21, 1944, explosion at the Naval Ammunition Depot at Lualualei in West Loch. The blast occurred on a LST, or landing ship-tank, and killed 163 sailors. Emory said about 50 of them are buried as unknowns at Punchbowl.

There are 2,923 sets of remains buried as unknowns at Punchbowl, and with the two sets of changes, there are still 1,740 graves that haven't been changed. All of the unknowns are from World War II or the Korean War.

Cemetery Director Gene Castagnetti said Navy Bureau of Medicine records showed from which ships unidentified remains were recovered after the Dec. 7 attack.

Similar information could be added for all the unknowns at Punchbowl to reflect, for example, falling in battle in Iwo Jima or Guadalcanal or Korea, Castagnetti said. But as he has before, Castagnetti raised concern about such a trend.

Castagnetti said the cemetery's mission "is not to be the national archives for military data" but "to bury our dead with dignity and honor."

Castagnetti said it would be "superfluous" to add historical data to markers when the information does not lend itself to identifying the remains. He said service members who lie in unknown graves are not forgotten because their names are inscribed on the walls of the Garden Court of the Missing.

The Army's policy for 106,000 unknowns buried worldwide is consistent with the type of information that is on most of the unidentified graves at Punchbowl, Castagnetti said. Each new granite slab cost $72.50.

"My concern is that we need to do things in the VA and government that show no partiality for one veterans group over another," Castagnetti said, noting that Korean War and other World War II veterans' headstones have not been changed.

According to Emory, Castagnetti has repeatedly expressed his reluctance to set a precedent. "Well, maybe we should set a precedent," Emory said.

Robert Hamakawa, president of the Korean War Veterans Association Hawai'i, Chapter 1, said yesterday he was unaware that the grave markers were changed, but he said he had no objection to it.

"At least they are partially identified as being killed in Hawai'i," he said. "At the same time, you could say that 866 (unknowns buried at Punchbowl) were killed in Korea. It would be nice to have noted Korea, too. But it's not necessary."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.