Calvin Harry Palmer

World War II
-
MIA
Fallen

Minot


County:
Ward

Date of Loss:

Recovered:
Remains recovered

Branch of Service:
Navy

Rank:
Seaman 2c

Company / Ship / Flight or equivalent:
USS Oklahoma

Major Battle/Theatre:
Asiatic

Engagements/Battles:
Pearl Harbor
Engagement:
Pearl Harbor

Circumstances:

Died while in MIA status. Crew member aboard the USS Oklahoma, killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor along with 428 fellow crewmen. 

North Dakotans lost on the Oklahoma:

  • Radioman Second Class Walter H. Backman of Wilton, Burleigh County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 7/17/2017.
  • Fireman First Class Charles R. Casto of North Dakota. Remains accounted for 11/21/2016
  • Fireman First Class Lawrence H. Fecho of Upham, McHenry County North Dakota. Remains accounted for 2/21/2017.
  • Fireman First Class Edward D. Johnson of New Rockford, Eddy County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 9/29/2020.
  • Seaman Second Class Charles H. Johannes of Foxholm, Ward County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 10/18/2021.
  • Gunners Mate First Class Arthur C. Neuenschwander of Fessenden, Wells County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 11/8/2017.
  • Seaman Second Class Calvin H. Palmer (Brother to Wilferd D. Palmer) of Minot, Ward County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 3/19/2019.
  • Seaman Second Class Wilferd D. Palmer (Brother to Calvin H. Palmer) of Minot, Ward County, North Dakota. Remains accounted for 3/19/2019.
  • SFC Everett I. Severinson of Reynolds, Grand Forks County, North Dakota. 

From DPAA:

On March 19, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Seaman Second Class Calvin Harry Palmer, missing from World War II.

Seaman Second Class Palmer entered the U.S. Navy from North Dakota and served aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). He was aboard the ship at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when it came under attack from Japanese aircraft. SEA2 Palmer was killed in the attack, and while his remains were recovered from the ship following the incident, they were not identified at the time and he was buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2015, advances in forensic techniques prompted the reexamination of unidentified remains from the Oklahoma, and SEA2 Palmer was eventually identified from among them.

Seaman Second Class Palmer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this service member, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.

Biography:

Memorialized at the USS Oklahoma Memorial. 

Brother to Seaman 2C Wilferd D. Palmer (21) who was also lost on the USS Oklahoma. Remains Recovered on March 19, 2019. 

See news release. May 13, 2019 WASHINGTON” The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that brothers Navy Seaman 2nd Class Calvin H. Palmer, 23, and Navy Seaman 2nd Class Wilferd D. Palmer, 21, of Minot, North Dakota, killed during World War II, were accounted for on March 19, 2019. 

For additional information on the Defense Departments 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. 

Calvin Palmer's personnel profile can be viewed at DPAA