Remains of Northeast Ohio native killed at Pearl Harbor officially identified by US Navy
MASSILLON, Ohio (WJW) – The city of Massillon has a long, proud history of sending its sons and daughters to serve the country, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice are honored in Massillon’s Veterans Memorial Park.
But sadly, the death of a U.S. sailor from Massillon, who was one of more than 2,400 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, has been surrounded by unanswered questions for the past 82 years.
Fireman First Class Walter Fay Schleiter, 22, was one of 429 sailors who perished after the USS Oklahoma was hit by torpedoes and capsized.
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It took the Navy three years to recover all of the remains from the Oklahoma. Sailors like Schleiter, whose remains could not be identified, were buried together in “graves of the unknown” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
The Navy never stopped trying to positively identify all of the sailors who died at Pearl Harbor, but when the remains from the Oklahoma were exhumed, Naval investigators faced a major challenge.
“There was a casket that they thought they would find five sailors or Marines or five partial remains to individuals, but there ended up being over a hundred,” said Captain Jeff Draude, who is director of the U.S. Navy Casualty Office.
However, advancements in DNA testing enabled the Navy to confirm a match in May 2018 between a set of remains recovered from the Oklahoma and samples from a member of Schleiter’s family.
The Navy announced on Monday that surviving family members in Pennsylvania have been notified and the remains will be released for burial.
“I’m grateful for the family and the work done by our team, and I’m just so happy that we were able to bring closure to him,” said Captain Draude.
Unfortunately, Schleiter’s mother and other relatives in the Massillon area passed away and never knew what became of his remains.
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Schleiter is one of 350 sailors from the Oklahoma whose remains have now been positively identified, and the Navy says the search for the story behind each one of the unknown Pearl Harbor sailors is out of respect for their service and sacrifice.
“We want to bring them home and to do what’s right by them and their family,” said Captain Draude.
Schleiter will be buried with full honors on April 11, 2024 at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.
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