Lawrence Herman Fecho

World War II
-
MIA
Fallen

Upham, ND


County:
McHenry

Date of Loss:

Recovered:
Remains recovered

Branch of Service:
Navy

Rank:
Fireman 1c

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. 

UPDATE: On February 21, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Fireman First Class Lawrence Herman Fecho, missing from World War II. Interred 8/13/2017 in Bottineau ND.

Fireman First Class Lawrence Herman Fecho joined the U.S. Navy from North Dakota and served aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). He was aboard the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when it came under attack by Japanese aircraft, and was killed when the ship capsized after being torpedoed. Fireman Fecho's remains were recovered after the incident, but could not be identified at the time, and were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as unknown. Modern forensic techniques were able to separate and identify F1c Fecho's remains from the unknowns buried at the cemetery. Fireman First Class Fecho 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 Honolulu Memorial. 

F1c LAWRENCE HERMAN FECHO

  • Unit
    USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY
  • Historical Country of Loss
    Hawaiian Islands
  • Body of Water
    NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
  • Current Country of Loss
    UNITED STATES
  • Home of Record* ND
  • Source: DPAA

2017 update: Remains Identified and interred 8/13/2017 in Bottineau ND. News Release on return of remains August 4, 2017 Fulfilling Our Nation€™s Promise USS Oklahoma Sailor From World War II Accounted For The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman from World War II have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. Navy Fireman 1st Class Lawrence H. Fecho, 20, of Willow City, North Dakota, will be buried August 13 in Bottineau, North Dakota. On Dec. 7, 1941, Fecho was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Fecho. From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nuuanu Cemeteries. 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. 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 (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Fecho. In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis. ­ To identify Fechos remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which matched a sister, as well as circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons. Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,041 (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Fecho's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site 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. For additional information on the Defense Department€™s 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. -end-