'The end of a long chapter': Seaman 2nd Class John Auld, killed in Pearl Harbor, buried in ABQ

A cavalcade of vehicles escorted U.S. Navy Seaman 2nd Class John Auld’s remains to Fairview Memorial Park on Friday morning. Awaiting the hearse at his gravesite were more than 50 people holding American flags. Some of them saluted, others cried. While Auld never lived in Albuquerque, he was laid to rest about 100 yards from where his mother, Lillian Auld, and brother, Edwin Auld, are buried.

Auld, 23, was killed at Pearl Harbor 83 years ago on Saturday, Dec. 7, a day that continues to live in infamy.

“It’s the end of a long chapter,” Auld’s nephew, Richard Auld, 64, said after the service.

Among those who paid their respects was American Legion Post 95 Chaplain Karen Street.

The opportunity to attend a funeral for “somebody that gave their life at such a young age at Pearl Harbor will never” happen again, she said.

On the morning of Dec. 7, Auld was on the USS Oklahoma when a wave of Japanese pilots fired torpedoes at the ship, causing it to rip open and quickly capsize. He was one of 429 people killed.

Auld was posthumously awarded several decorations, including the Purple Heart, which is awarded to those who are wounded or killed in action.

“For me, he’s one of the greatest heroes ever,” Street said. “He didn’t even know what happened. He was just gone.”

Despite John Auld’s sacrifice, it took decades for him and other crew members to be identified. After a years-long project, the Department of Defense announced on Tuesday that all crew members who died on the USS Oklahoma have been accounted for.

“I was definitely happy to have them identified and know we could get his remains back with his brother and mother here in Albuquerque,” Richard Auld said in a phone interview Tuesday.

“It’s pretty satisfying to see the family be able to get some peace and be able to bring back their loved one,” Rear Adm. Michael Van Poots said.

‘I wish I would have known him’

John Auld was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on June 15, 1918. He later moved to Detroit, Michigan, before enlisting in the Navy on Nov. 6, 1940. Two months later, he was sent to the USS Oklahoma.

John’s seaman duties included painting, equipment repair and assisting with cargo. He also stood watch as a lookout and was a member of a gun crew.

Richard Auld said he never met his uncle, also known as “Jack.” Richard’s father, Edwin, did not talk about John.

“From what my grandmother told me about him, he was a good man and very honorable, and a very good-looking man,” Richard said. He said she also told him that John “was proud to be in the service and defending the United States.”

“I wish I would have known him,” Richard said.

From unknown to identified

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the USS Oklahoma crew, including John Auld, who were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu cemeteries on Oahu. When the Oklahoma was righted in 1944, only 35 people were identifiable. The other unidentified crew members were first interred as “unknowns.”

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, American Graves Registration Service members disinterred the remains of the casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

In 1950, all unidentified remains were buried in 61 caskets in 45 graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific — also known as the Punchbowl — Navy Casualty Office Director Capt. Jeff Draude said.

Over the years, however, improvements in forensics technology would prove to be a game-changer.

In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, launched the USS Oklahoma Project. The goal was to exhume all unidentified remains from the ship and use DNA analysis to bring closure to families, like the Aulds.

In 2016 or 2017, Richard Auld said the Navy contacted his half-brother, who put them in touch with Richard about giving a DNA sample.

John Auld was identified in 2018.

To identify his remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis, according to DPAA.

Once a positive identification has been made, the Navy’s Casualty Office notified the next of kin, who then decides whether they want to be the person authorized to dispose of that military member’s remains, Draude said.

John’s burial was originally scheduled to take place Dec. 7, 2020, but it was postponed due to the pandemic, Richard said. But on Friday, as the flags waved and taps played, John Auld finally reunited with his mother and brother.

“I’m relieved to get him back with his family,” Richard said.

As John’s casket was lowered into the ground, a couple of feet away was a gravestone with a final message: “Rest in Peace Brave Soul.”