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USS Oklahoma Sailor's DNA

The capsized USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, December, 1941
US Navy
The capsized USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, December, 1941

By Associated Press

Tulsa, OK – Texan's DNA could help ID Pearl Harbor sailor

DALLAS (AP) A Dallas-area woman for decades kept a letter from her Navy brother and that mail could help identify him as a victim of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sandy Patton of Trophy Club says her brother was serving in the radio room of the USS Oklahoma during the Japanese attack.

The 89-year-old woman hoped, at a recent meeting in San Antonio, to be informed that recovered remains include those of her sibling. Patton last year provided a DNA sample.

Patton says she was told that identifying 22-year-old Starring Winfield was a priority of the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, but he has yet to be ID'd.

Survivors were asked for anything from a lost loved one that could carry DNA.

Patton offered a letter from her brother, with the hope that he licked the envelope to seal it.

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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.