The remains of Sailor Joseph Warren Hoffman, who died at Pearl Harbor more than eighty years ago, are being returned to his home state of Ohio this weekend.
Hoffman was a musician first class (MUS1), which means he performed at official ceremonies and to entertain.
MUS1 Hoffman was one of 429 people who died aboard the USS Oklahoma on the morning of December 7, 1941 in an attack.
His remains were recovered from the ship, but they could not be identified at the time. Hoffman was interred as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Hoffman's remains were disinterred in 2015. They were then verified to be his through DNA profiling with his living descendants.
He grew up in Chillicothe and he will be buried in the nearby Greenfield cemetery tomorrow morning.
The Navy is paying for the funeral and for some of Hoffman's family members to attend. A Rear Admiral will be in attendance.
Chris Welter is a reporter and corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
