Klamath Falls sailor who died during attack on Pearl Harbor officially accounted for

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Navy sailor from Klamath Falls who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor will finally be buried in Southern Oregon next month.

The U.S. Department of Defense said on December 7, 1941, Navy Seaman 1^st Class Warren C. Gillette was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma. The 21-year-old was with his crew moored in Pearl Harbor when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma was hit by multiple torpedoes and quickly capsized. 429 crewmen aboard the battleship died, including Gillette.

After the attack, deceased Navy personnel recovered from the battle were interred in cemeteries on Hawaii. Not all of the dead soldiers could be identified. Gillette was among them.

In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed some sailors’ remains for analysis. Using DNA analysis, the agency was finally able to identify numerous remains, including Gillette’s.

Gillette will be buried on July 12, 2021, in Eagle Point, Oregon.

For funeral information, call the Navy Service Casualty Office at 800-443-9298.