Press Release | Aug. 30, 2021

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Rouse, J.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 1st Class Joseph C. Rouse, 23, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 1, 2021.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Rouse was assigned to the battleship 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 Rouse.