Hodges, Howard David
Navy Fireman 1st class

Howard David Hodges, age 20, from Hamlet, North Carolina, Beaufort county.

Parents: Annie Reaves Cowan

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: On October 15, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Howard David Hodges, missing from World War II. Fireman First Class Hodges joined the U.S. Navy from North Carolina. He was serving aboard the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor on Decemer 7, 1941, when the ship came under attack from Japanese forces. The West Virginia was sunk after taking multiple torpedo hits, and F1c Hodges was killed in the incident. His remains were recovered following the incident; however, they could not be identified at the time. F1c Hodges’s remains were buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2017, the remains of unknown personnel associated with the West Virginia were exhumed for analysis. F1c Hodges’s remains were identified as part of this effort.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency