Oak Forest Vets Welcome Home WWII Marine Killed In Action

OAK FOREST, IL - Nearly 80 years after losing his life during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an American hero is finally getting the welcome home he deserves. On Dec. 7, 1941, Marine Corps Pfc. Marley R. Arthurholtz, 20, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor when it sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Arthurholtz.

Welcoming Home A Hero

On Thursday morning, Oak Forest Alderman Paul Selman (Navy), Dennis Mitzner (Army) and Oak Forest Police Sergeant Scott Durano (Marines) traveled to Midway Airport TSA facilities for a reception and transfer of Arthurholz's body.

"Along with these gentlemen, friends, and comrades all joined in a flag line of Marine Vets Motorcycle Club to bring this hero home Thursday morning," Oak Forest officials said on their official Facebook page.

Identifying The Marine's Remains

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.

According to the Defense POW/MIA, 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, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Arthurholtz, authorities said.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis. To identify Arthurholtz’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

The Other Missing WWII Heroes

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war, according to miliatary officials. Currently there are 72,648 still unaccounted for from World War II with approximately 30,000 assessed as possibly recoverable.

Arthurholtz’s name is recorded in 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.

Laid To Rest

Arthurholtz, who is originally from South Bend, will be buried this Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019, in Granger, Indiana.

His personnel profile can be viewed at this link.