Lehman, Gerald George
Navy Fireman 3rd class

Gerald George Lehman, age 18, from Hancock, Michigan, Houghton county.

Parents: Harry Charles Lehman

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, the battleship USS Oklahoma suffered multiple torpedo hits and capsized. As a result, 429 sailors and Marines died. Following the attack, 36 of these servicemen were identified and the remaining 393 were buried as unknowns in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2003, an independent researcher contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) with information he believed indicated that one of the USS Oklahoma casualties who was buried as an unknown could be positively identified. After reviewing the case, JPAC exhumed the casket and discovered that it contained Lehman’s remains. DNA samples from enevelopes of letters Lehman sent assisted in identification. Remains were in casket with five others.
Cemetery: Forest Hill, Houghton

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Associated Press (1942)