Community comes together to bring World War II sailor home

CHILLICOTHE— Joseph Hoffman was the first Ross County casualty of World War II and will likely be the last to come home.

Hoffman was killed in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor while on the USS Oklahoma. His remains were recovered during World War II, but could not be identified until 2020 when scientists used anthropologic and DNA analysis.

The Navy, family members, veterans and the Chillicothe community joined forces to honor Hoffman and bring his remains home to be buried with his family this weekend.

Johna Pulver with the Ross County Veterans Service Office started researching Hoffman in 2019 while making a video for the local Joseph Hoffman American Legion Post. She discovered that the Navy was in the process of identifying remains from the USS Oklahoma.

Days after Pulver reached out to the Navy, the Navy announced that Hoffman was identified.

"That's when it got personal for me," Pulver said. "It's like he was my relative."

Deshannon Beaty has been a Navy chief in the Navy casualty office since 2018. She visited Hoffman's remaining family members to answer questions about the process and has been working closely with Hoffman's case.

The DPAA team used samples of a sailor's DNA and matched it with a relative's to identify remains from the USS Oklahoma. In addition to working in the lab, the DPAA team also meets with relatives and works to bring the sailor to their final resting place.

Beaty said it has been an honor to meet families that care about bringing their loved ones home. Most communities where sailors have returned have planned big community events similar to Chillicothe to celebrate and honor them.

"It's really a touching moment for me to watch when they send me the video to know that people out there really care about our shipmates that have been missing for the last 80 years," Beaty said. "Now they're getting a final resting place."

Navy Casualty Director Robert McMahon said the Navy supports the fallen sailors' families by assisting the family with burial coordination and paying for funeral expenses, family travel and lodging and other expenses such as the casket, remains transportation and funeral home and cemetery expenses. The Navy is also providing full funeral honors with a rifle salute, burial team and taps.

"It's been 80 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor, but it's still important to these families because they believe their family member did not pass away or they just didn't know what happened," McMahon said. "Us being able to recover and identify the remains of the sailors and Marines aids in the closure for those families, but it's also important for the Navy and the Marine Corps to honor those sailors who really did sacrifice their lives for our country."

In addition to Beaty, members of the Navy casualty office who have assisted in identifying Hoffman include Falon Karcher, Patrick Hawkins, Darrell Marshall and Rosendo Lindo.

Back in Chillicothe, Pulver continued to compile copious amounts of research on Hoffman, anything from where he grew up and went to school to recitals he attended as a child. No detail was too insignificant to look into.

However, with the discovery of Hoffman's remains, the goal changed from researching Hoffman to bringing him home.

Bob Leach, a local historian and former history teacher, joined Pulver in her research. The pair began making plans to hold a memorial service for Hoffman and reached out to everyone they could think of to help plan a three-day memorial weekend.

The hardest person to find was Hoffman's family member. The Navy passed on their contact information to the relative, but neither Pulver nor Leach heard back for several months. Pulver said she kept a note of the relative's area code on the back of her phone for months while she waited for the call.

Right as they were losing hope, they were able to connect with a distant relative who was excited to find out about his identified great uncle.

John Moomaw had never known he had a family member that died during Pearl Harbor and was surprised to hear from the Navy after Hoffman's remains were identified. He said it was "quite an honor" to be a part of the memorial service.

"My father's a veteran from Vietnam and he was also in the Navy and so it's close and personal to him. To find out we have a family member that was a veteran of World War II is kind of interesting," Moomaw said. "There's nobody else to honor his family, so we should do it."

Moomaw will be attending the memorial with several members of his family.

Leach and Pulver also recruited the help of the American Legion Post, Chillicothe Mayor Luke Feeney, the Chillicothe Civic Theatre and Tyler Memorial United Methodist Church.

Art Harrett with the Joseph W. Hoffman American Legion Post 757 and other post members helped to plan and host numerous events for the weekend. The post has honored Hoffman in numerous ways since it was established in 1949, including donations, celebrations and more in Hoffman's name. The post is filled with photos of Hoffman, portraits and more.

Leach said this will be a uniquely special experience for the members of the post since American Legion Post members normally would not be able to attend the funerals of their post's namesake.

Mayor Feeney helped reach out to a relative by writing a letter and sending it through the Navy. He advocated for Hoffman to be brought home to be buried with his family in Greenfield Cemetery.

From 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, a Notable Souls Tour will be held at the Grandview Cemetery to highlight the 43 military members who died in service during wartime and were buried or memorialized in Grandview Cemetery. Sponsored by the Chillicothe Restoration Foundation, the tour also will include information about Hoffman.

John Manasco, president of the Chillicothe Civic Theatre, said actors from the theater will be giving interpretations of 10 of those buried or memorialized in the cemetery.

"It's an opportunity for us to give back to the community," Manasco said. "We're grateful for the opportunity to be part of this event."

James Wade is the pastor of Hoffman's former church, Tyler Memorial United Methodist Church. He said the church started working on plans for the memorial as soon as they heard that Hoffman was identified.

Hoffman attended the church when it was Tyler Brethren Church prior to church mergers. Leach said the sanctuary is almost the same as the last service Hoffman attended.

Leach said Tyler Memorial is still in the same building as when Hoffman attended the church and includes the same stained-glass windows. They might even have some of the same Bibles Hoffman would have read.

Leach currently goes to Tyler Memorial, so it was easy for him to connect with Wade about plans for the memorial service.

“As the current serving pastor of Tyler Memorial, I told Bob I would do anything that was appropriate for the celebration of Seaman Hoffman’s return to Ross County and his burial in Greenfield," Wade said.

On Sunday, Aug. 21, a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at the church. Wade invites anyone in the community to share in the memorial segment of the church’s memorial service.

Wade said the members of his congregation are enthusiastic to be part of honoring Hoffman’s return to join his family in Greenfield.

From Hawaii to Ohio, dozens of people came together to bring Joseph Hoffman home to his final resting place.

Schedule of Events

On Friday, the Joseph W. Hoffman American Legion Post 757 will host a family-friendly open house from noon to 8 p.m at 289 Cooks Hill Road. The event will have food, children's activities, bounce houses, documentaries and movies with a Pearl Harbor theme.

The opening ceremony will be held at 3:30. Leach will give a speech on the history of Hoffman and the Huntington High School band will perform at 4 p.m. The Greenfield-McClain Cadet Corps Drill Presentation will be held at 4:30 p.m. and the Ross County Veterans Honor Guard Flag Burning Ceremony until 6 p.m.

On Saturday, a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. at the Ross County Veterans Memorial Park on Yoctangee Boulevard. The procession will come from Greenfield. The route has not yet been finalized. A motorcade will proceed from Veterans Memorial Park to Greenfield Cemetery for graveside services.

On Sunday at 11 a.m., a memorial service will be held at Tyler Methodist Church. The church has requested Navy support.

From 1 to 5 p.m., a Notable Souls Tour will be held at the Grandview Cemetery to highlight the 43 military members who died in service during wartime and were buried or memorialized in Grandview Cemetery.

The Chillicothe Civic Theatre will give interpretations of 10 of those who are buried or memorialized in the flat, shady area in the center of the cemetery. Musician First Class Joseph Hoffman's story will also be told.

PTSD, family support and suicide prevention offices and groups will be present at the event.

Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at mbecker@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Community comes together to bring World War II sailor home