AUSTIN; JOHN ARNOLD
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
State AL
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank CWO
Service Number 75565
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY

On October 5, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin, missing from World War II.

Chief Carpenter Austin, who joined the U.S. Navy from Alabama, served on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was aboard the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. He was killed in the attack, and while his remains were recovered from the ship following the incident, they could not be individually identified at the time. CC Austin was initially buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, modern forensic techniques prompted the reexamination and identification of CC Austin’s remains.

Chief Carpenter Austin is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

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https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/Article/1726187/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-austin-j/

Press Release | Jan. 8, 2019

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Austin, J.)

WASHINGTON – The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Chief Warrant Officer John A. Austin, 36, of Warrior, Alabama, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Sept. 4, 2018.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Austin was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Austin.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Austin.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Austin’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,751 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Austin’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For family information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.

Austin will be buried June 12, 2019, in the Punchbowl.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.dpaa.mil/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Austin’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XfDzEAK

HISTORY

Austin was born in Warrior, Alabama. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 20 November 1920 at age 15. Between that time and 26 July 1935, he served four successive enlistments. On that date, Austin accepted an acting appointment as a Carpenter's Mate 3rd Class (Petty officer third class) and reported on board the submarine tender Canopus then serving as a unit of the Asiatic Fleet. On 8 August, he detached from the tender and reported for duty on Augusta. On 4 December 1935, Austin received a permanent warrant as a carpenter (warrant officer, W-1). He left the heavy cruiser on 13 July 1937 and reported on board Tennessee on 10 September 1937. He served in that battleship until detached on 14 June 1939 to proceed to further assignment to Rigel reporting on 18 July 1939. After 14 months on that destroyer tender, Carpenter Austin departed on 21 September 1940 bound for duty in Oklahoma and reported on board the battleship on 5 October 1940. In October 1941, Austin he received a commission as a chief carpenter (chief warrant officer, W-2).

On the morning of 7 December 1941, Chief Austin was on board Oklahoma. The battleship, which was the first to be attacked by the Japanese on Battleship Row, capsized in only 15 minutes due to damage it received from torpedoes and bombs. Austin along with many crew members were trapped within the ship as it keeled over. After searching for a means of escape, he found a porthole beneath the surface that offered a way out. He assisted 15 sailors in escaping from the sunken Oklahoma. However Chief Carpenter Austin failed to get out.

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin (NSN: 75565), United States Navy, for exceptional courage, presence of mind, and devotion to duty and disregard for his personal safety while serving on board the Battleship U.S.S. OKLAHOMA (BB-37), during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. When the U.S.S. OKLAHOMA capsized, Chief Carpenter Austin and a number of the crew were entrapped in one of the ship's compartments. By his efforts, a porthole which was under water was located and he assisted fifteen of the crew to escape. The conduct of Chief Carpenter Austin throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.[1]

The escort destroyer USS Austin (DE-15) was named in his honor.

Copied from wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Arnold_Austin

John A Austin