Navy sailor killed in Pearl Harbor returned home

August 26, 2023

The remains of a decorated US Navy sailor who was killed at Pearl Harbor have been returned home after 81 years.

Clarence Thompson of New Orleans was buried at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Slidell on Aug. 25.

“I got emotional. This is a long time coming,” Thompson’s cousin, Denise Bennett told WGNO.

Thompson, 42, was one of 429 killed when the Japanese torpedo bombers attacked the USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor during World War II.

Thompson was among the hundreds of dead who could not be identified and were therefore buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2015, they were exhumed as part of the Navy’s Project Oklahoma, where the unidentified remains of 388 service members from the doomed ship were unearthed in an attempt to identify them through DNA testing.

Since then, 355 men, including Thompson, who was accounted for on Oct. 14, 2021, have been identified.

Clarence Thompson — Thompson perished after his ship, the USS Oklahoma, was attacked.

A flag being presented to Thompson's cousin Denise Bennett and her great nephew Landon Clayton at the funeral. — A flag was presented to Thompson’s cousin Denise Bennett and her great nephew Landon Clayton at the funeral.

Thompson, who reached the rank of Ship’s Cook 1st Class, served in the Navy for over 23 years and earned a Purple Heart, according to the Shreveport Times.

“A great American that stands up for our country like that, and is willing to serve 23-plus years, he deserves the honor,” Rear Admiral Terry Eddinger, U.S. Navy Deputy Chief of chaplains for Reserve Matters, told WGNO.

“The family can now know he’s at this cemetery with his shipmates and comrades who died in the same war as him.”