According to the Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency, Navy Lt. j.g. Aloysius H. Schmitt, killed in the attack on the USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, has now been accounted for. Father Schmitt, a Roman Catholic priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, served as a chaplain in the United States Navy during World War II. Father Schmitt was assigned to the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and deployed to Pearl Harbor on Dec. 6, 1940. For the next year, the crew participated in exercises and conducted patrols.
On December 7, 1941, Father Schmitt, serving on board the battleship USS Oklahoma during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was hit, which caused the ship to capsize. Many sailors, including Father Schmitt, became trapped in a compartment with only a small porthole as the means of escape. Father Schmitt helped a number of men through that porthole. However, when it was his time to leave, he declined to help more men escape. In total, he helped 12 men escape.
The USS Oklahoma suffered 429 casualties as it quickly capsized due to damages sustained from multiple torpedoes. The majority of the casualties (Sailors and Marines) were never identified. Father Schmitt died on board the Oklahoma. He was the first chaplain of any faith to die in World War II. He was 32 years old. During efforts to salvage the vessel, Navy personnel collected a large number of remains representing as many as 400 individuals. Most of these were later buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency personnel exhumed these remains and as a result in advances in forensic and scientific analytical capabilities, were able to identify Schmitt. Interment services are pending. Thank you for your service, sir. May you finally rest in peace.