Rushford Sailor Killed At Pearl Harbor Returning Home Friday

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities man spent this Independence Day waiting for the return of a relative who went missing nearly 80 years ago.

Joseph Johnson died aboard the USS Oklahoma in the attack on Pearl Harbor. His remains were never identified -- until now. WCCO's Kate Raddatz shares how this sailor is finally coming home.

Johnson, 22, was just beginning his life when he enlisted in the navy in 1940. Like thousands of other young men, he never knew what was coming on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941.

"It's historically important for us to remember that you know, freedom isn't free," Dennis Rislove, Johnson's nephew, said.

Johnson died along with more than 400 others aboard the USS Oklahoma. Most of the bodies couldn't be identified. Dennis Rislove is Johnson's nephew.

"My mom and her sisters talked about Joe a lot. They were a very close family," Rislove said.

Years went by as Rislove's mother never knew what happened to her brother. But three years ago, personnel from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began examining remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

They used Rislove's DNA to find a match.

"Amazing that science has changed so much that they're able to do this. Because the family all along all during that time never had any idea this might happen," Rislove said.

On Friday, Johnson's remains will be flown in to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and there will be military funeral honors on Saturday in his hometown of Rushford.

"It's kind of a no man left behind. They are finally able to bring these people home," Rislove said.

Johnson is the fifth Minnesota sailor to be identified and returned home from the USS Oklahoma. Rislove says he still has a living uncle who is 99 years old who did know Johnson, and will be present at the military honors along with other family.