Walter H. Backman

World War II
-
MIA
Fallen

Wilton, ND

County:
Burleigh

Date of Loss:

Branch of Service:
Navy

Rank:
RM2c

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent:
USS Oklahoma

Circumstances:

Killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. His body was recovered July 17, 2017.

WASHINGTON€” The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from World War II are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Radioman 2nd Class Walter H. Backman, 22, of Wilton, North Dakota, accounted for on July 17, 2017, will be buried May 28 in Batavia, Illinois. On Dec. 7, 1941, Backman 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 Backman.

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 Backman.

In 2003, a single casket associated with the USS Oklahoma attack was disinterred from the Punchbowl, however laboratory analysis revealed the remains to be highly commingled. 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 NMCP for analysis.

To identify Backman€™s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons and anthropological analysis.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,917 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Backman€™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 additional information on the Defense Department€™s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.

Biography:

Born 29 April 1919 in Wilton ND (Burleigh County). Entered US Navy in Minneapolis MN on 20 July 1938. Served Asiatic Pacific Theater. On duty in the radio compartment of the USS Oklahoma when it was hit by Japanese Type 91 aerial torpedoes 7 December 1941.. The Oklahoma capsized approximately 12 minutes after the first torpedo hit. Name is included on the ND All Veterans Memorial on the state capitol grounds Bismarck ND. Name is included on page 60 of the ND Register of Veterans WWII and Korean Conflict book. From Obituary: The Healy Chapel: Walter H. Backman was born on April 29, 1919 in Wilton, North Dakota, the son of August and Beatrice (Pope) Backman. He enlisted in the Navy in 1938 and served as a radioman. He was on duty in the radio compartment of the battleship USS Oklahoma on the morning of December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. The Oklahoma took multiple hits from Japanese aerial torpedoes and capsized within 15 minutes of the first strike. Walter was one of 429 sailors on the Oklahoma who perished in the battle. Over the next three years, the US Navy recovered the remains of sailors who were trapped inside the capsized ship, but were only able to identify 35 of them. Those who were unidentified, including Walter, were interred together at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, the Department of Veteran's Affairs and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began the Oklahoma Project, to identify those remains using DNA methods. Through this, Walter's remains were identified. Walter will be brought home and laid to rest on Memorial Day, May 28, 2018. A prayer service will take place at 1 PM at The Healy Chapel, 332 W. Downer Pl., Aurora, IL 60506. A graveside service with military honors will take place at 2 PM at River Hills Memorial Park, 1650 S. River St., Batavia, IL 60510. For more information, call 630-897-9291.