Most visitors to the USS Arizona Memorial know they’re standing above the battleship where more than 900 sailors and Marines still rest. Far fewer know that other remains were recovered after the December 7, 1941, attack and buried as unknowns at Punchbowl, several miles away in Honolulu. Now, 85 years later, the military is preparing to reopen graves associated with 86 unknown casualties in an effort to find out whose remains are there.
The disinterments are scheduled to begin December 7, 2026, at Honolulu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. More than 700 family members are expected in Hawaii, according to Stars and Stripes.
One relative changed the timetable.
The relative’s granduncle, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Edwin Kline, was among the 1,177 men killed aboard the Arizona. During a family visit to Hawaii in 2022, Kevin learned about the unidentified remains at Punchbowl and began asking why modern DNA testing hadn’t been used to identify them. He established Operation 85 in April 2023.
According to a 2022 Navy report, the government had DNA reference samples representing just 25 USS Arizona families. Pentagon policy generally requires samples from relatives of 60% of potentially associated missing service members before a group of unknown remains can be disinterred for identification. For the Arizona, that meant obtaining DNA samples from relatives representing 643 families, and the government estimated it would take 10 years and approximately $2.7 million to reach that goal.
Kline and a team of genealogists, researchers, and volunteers began tracing family trees, locating descendants, and helping them provide DNA through the appropriate military offices. Some sailors had no children, and the relatives Kline looked for were often several generations removed. Families were scattered across the country, sometimes unaware they had any connection to the Arizona at all.
The team reached the required threshold in approximately three years, with Kline personally contributing about $150,000, according to Operation 85. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirmed the milestone in April 2026, clearing the way for the now-scheduled disinterments.
Among the descendants who contributed DNA was retired Army chaplain Brian Ray, whose granduncle, Robert Adair Anderson, died aboard the Arizona. Ray is scheduled to deliver an invocation during the upcoming December ceremonies.
What will happen at Punchbowl on December 7.
The first eight caskets are scheduled to be disinterred at 6 a.m., weather permitting, followed by an 11 a.m. ceremony at Kilo Pier on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The military plans to continue removing groups of eight about every two to three weeks until it addresses the 86 Arizona-associated unknowns.
The agency is also finalizing a separate proposal involving another 55 unknown casualties from the Pearl Harbor attack whose ship affiliations haven’t been established. Those disinterments are expected to follow the Arizona project, although the agency hasn’t yet approved the additional proposal.
The agency will examine the remains at its Hawaii laboratory, with DNA testing performed in Delaware. Investigators will compare results against samples supplied by relatives, along with historical records and other forensic evidence. Some remains may be commingled, and identification isn’t guaranteed.
In our 2021 Pearl Harbor coverage, we reported on the identification project involving unknowns from the USS Oklahoma, another battleship sunk during the attack. The military eventually identified more than 360 of the 394 previously unaccounted-for Oklahoma sailors and Marines, according to later DPAA reporting.
While the Arizona project has had its own forensic challenges, the effort does not involve disturbing the more than 900 sailors and Marines who remain aboard the submerged battleship. The names of the Arizona casualties are already known, but investigators hope to establish which of those names belong to remains recovered after the attack and buried at Punchbowl. Operation 85 continues to locate relatives who can provide additional DNA, since reaching the initial threshold doesn’t guarantee enough evidence for every identification.
What Pearl Harbor visitors can expect.
When we visited Pearl Harbor during preparations for its 82nd anniversary in 2023, Arizona Memorial tickets were unavailable, so we spent our time aboard the nearby USS Missouri. This year’s anniversary will bring hundreds of Arizona family members to Hawaii, although the disinterment events are separate from the public commemoration and are restricted to eligible registered relatives.
The main public remembrance ceremony begins December 7 at 7:30 a.m. on the lawn of Pearl Harbor National Memorial, with visitor center gates opening at 6:15 a.m. Attendance is free, and the normal $7 parking fee will be waived for the anniversary.
For anyone planning to visit the Arizona Memorial that day, the official 85th anniversary schedule calls for Navy boats to operate from noon until 3:30 p.m., first come, first served, as conditions allow. No advance reservations will be released for December 7, unlike the usual USS Arizona Memorial booking process. With anniversary crowds expected, anyone hoping to visit the memorial that day should plan for an unusually busy time.
Lead Photo shows Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, the National Memorial Cemetery Of The Pacific.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
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