Flags at state buildings in Kentucky will be at half-staff on Friday to honor a World War II soldier killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Gov. Andy Beshear ordered flags at all state buildings to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset to honor Navy Fireman 2nd Class Hal Jake Allison, 21, of Paducah.
F2c Allison will be interred at Maplelawn Park Cemetery in Paducah on Friday.
Beshear asked that individuals, businesses, organizations, and government agencies join in the tribute to F2c Allison by lowering their flags.
F2c Allison was killed along with 428 other crewman aboard the USS Oklahoma when the ship was hit by a torpedo, capsizing the vessel. Prior to his remains being identified, he was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said F2c Allison’s remains were identified on October 14, 2021.
“In the days, months, and years following the attack, remains of men lost aboard the USS Oklahoma were recovered,” the DPAA said. “Those remains that could not be identified were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) at Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2015, the DPAA received authorization to exhume unknown remains associated with the Oklahoma and reexamine them using advances in forensic technology. From June through November 2015, DPAA personnel, in cooperation with cemetery officials, exhumed all remaining caskets associated with the USS Oklahoma at the NMCP and transferred the remains to DPAA laboratories. Laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established one set of these remains as those of F2c Allison.”
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
