DPAA Reaches DNA Threshold to Begin Disinterment of USS Arizona's 141 Unknown WWII Sailors

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced on April 23–24, 2026 that Operation 85 — a grassroots DNA collection initiative founded by Kevin Kline, grandnephew of Navy Petty Officer Robert Kline killed aboard the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 — had collected 643 DNA family reference samples from relatives of Arizona crewmen, meeting the formal threshold required to request disinterment and DNA identification of 141 commingled sets of remains buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), Honolulu, Hawaii. The USS Arizona was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when a Japanese armor-piercing bomb ignited the forward ammunition magazine; 1,177 of the 1,512 crew were killed in minutes — the single largest loss of life on any US warship during the attack. Approximately 900 crew members remain entombed in the sunken hull, a recognized national memorial, while the 141 unknowns at Punchbowl were recovered before DNA technology existed. DPAA announced disinterment is planned to begin in November–December 2026. The National WWII Museum called the milestone 'a significant step in fulfilling our nation's promise to identify and honor those who gave all.' The effort reflects the ongoing work to account for all American WWII missing — the largest unresolved accounting challenge from any US conflict.