Eighty years after a World War II sailor from Colorado died at Pearl Harbor, his remains are finally being laid to rest. 

The life of Water Tender First Class Milo Phillips, who was killed in the infamous attack on Dec. 7, 1941, will be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu on Thursday.

Phillips, a resident of Pierce at the time of his death, was one of 388 services members stationed on the USS Oklahoma who had never been accounted for until DNA tests recently revealed his identity, according to the U.S. Navy.

He and 354 others have been positively identified through these tests since a 2015 disinterment, officials said. 

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Historians with the the Defense Prisoner of War and Missing in Action Accounting Agency said their scientists acquired DNA from family members of unaccounted sailors by asking living family members to participate in the family reference sample program.

The team cross referenced this newly acquired DNA with more than 84 required samples as well as medical and dental records from the Oklahoma service members. 

To date, 355 of the sailors have been identified thanks to the program, according to the Navy. 

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“Most often the notification and identification briefing is emotional, overwhelming and relieving all at the same time,” officials wrote in the fact sheet. “Most families cannot believe their loved ones were recovered after so many years, they prayed or hoped to have closure someday.” 

The Navy said the relatives of Phillips do not want to talk to reporters regarding their loved one. 

Phillips was born on June 21, 1915, in McAllaster, Kansas, which is 232 miles southeast of Denver. He was raised in Galeton in Weld County and enlisted in the Navy at the beginning of 1934. 

He earned the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal – with Fleet Claps, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal – with Bronze Stars, American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal, according to the Navy. 

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