Pearl Harbor Hero To Be Laid To Rest

On Dec. 7, 1941, U.S. Navy Fireman 2nd Class Joseph William Carroll was on the USS Oklahoma battleship at Fort Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

On that fateful morning, the mighty battleship was one of many American ships attacked by Japanese aircraft. The Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, causing it to quickly capsize.

The Pearl Harbor attack claimed the lives of more than 2,400 Americans — including 429 crewmen aboard the Oklahoma.

Carroll was among those sailors who lost their lives, but out of the 429 crewmen who died, 388 remained unaccounted until more than 70 years later.

Beginning in 2015, the Department of Defense began exhuming remains of sailors and Marines who were killed on the Oklahoma in an attempt to identify them. Since then, nearly 360 have been identified — including Joseph William Carroll, who was accounted for on Aug. 19, 2019.

Now, Carroll will finally be laid to rest Wednesday, Aug. 21 at the National Cemetery of the Pacific — the “Punchbowl” in Honolulu.

Carroll’s cousin Nancy Leigh Carroll De La Cruz, of Stockbridge, along with her husband Enrique and daughter Bailey, will be there for the ceremony in Hawaii as his next of kin.

“I think it’s great,” Nancy De La Cruz said of being able to finally lay her loved one to rest and to honor his sacrifice. “One of the reasons we chose to allow him to be reburied there was because he was already there for so long with all his crew members he passed away with. I felt like he was already there and we might as well put him back where he was — with his friends. Some of them never got identified.”

Nancy’s father, Thomas Carroll, is actually Joseph Carroll's closest living relative. However, she said, because he is in his 80s, he won’t be able to make the trip so Nancy and her family will have the honor of paying their respects to their fallen family member.

Joseph William Carroll — like so many young men who enlisted and served — wasn’t married and didn’t have any children.

According to information from the West Virginia Archives, he was the son of Della C. Carroll and Joseph Carroll and was nicknamed “Joe Bill.”

He graduated from Fairview High School in 1939.

According to the Navy, he enlisted in Baltimore, Md., on July 11, 1940 and was assigned to the Naval Training Station in Norfolk, Va. on July 12, 1940.

On Oct. 9, 1940, he was assigned to the USS Oklahoma and served as a fireman.

His awards and decorations included the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal (Fleet Clasp), Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal (with Bronze Star) and the World War II Victory Medal.

Nancy De La Cruz said she appreciates the Navy taking the time, money and effort to identify the service members and allowing family members to honor their loved ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

In honor of the family’s Irish heritage, she said bagpipes will be played during the full burial service. His name will be placed on a placard, and because he was Christian, a cross will be placed beside his name.

“We’ll go out there and honor his memory and finally put him to rest after 77 years,” she said. “That’s a long time, but at least it will be done.”

The Navy covers all primary mortuary expenses with the interments along with family travel and lodging for up to three family members.

A full funeral detail (rifle salute, burial team and TAPS) is also offered to families.

“Being able to recover and identify the remains of these sailors aids in the closure to these families,” said Capt. Jeff Draude, director of the Navy Casualty Office. “Like all forces in the Department of Defense, it is especially important to the Navy to honor our sailors and Marines who paid the ultimate sacrifice in giving their lives for our country.”