Centre County sailor killed during attack on Pearl Harbor accounted for after nearly 80 years
A sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor nearly eight decades ago was identified in February as a Penns Valley man, an agency within the Defense Department wrote Tuesday.
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Hugh Alexander, 43, was among the 429 USS Oklahoma crew members who died during the surprise attack in December 1941.
Alexander, of Potters Mills, posthumously received a Silver Star Medal for saving the lives of several other crew members. The medal is the third-highest military combat decoration that can be awarded to a member of the armed forces.
Nearly 400 USS Oklahoma crew members who were not previously identified were exhumed in 2015. Scientists confirmed Alexander’s identity using DNA, the federal agency wrote. About 92% of those who were exhumed have been identified.
While Alexander was accounted for earlier this year, his family only recently received the briefing.
Alexander will be buried in San Diego. A date has not been determined.