Stories Behind the Stars would like to announce the creation of what is likely the most complete Pearl Harbor fallen database ever.
This task was managed by Jackie Menasco of Arizona assisted by Allison Albert of Rhode Island and Coby Crump of Utah.
They started with a list created by Katherine Rasdorf that included basic information about all the Navy, Marines, and Army service members who are identified as having lost their lives on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor.
The database was completed in a six week period thanks to help of these volunteers:
Anita Ashworth, Alabama
Heid Bay, Oregon
Lee Braswell, Colorado
Emily Burnett, Utah
Christy Erickson, Michigan
Preston Freitas, Utah
Teri Fronk, Utah
Wes Gibbs, Montana
Susan Gould, Tennessee
Susan Singleton, Illinois
Terry Toohig, Pennsylvania
Three of these volunteers (Lee Braswell - 616 records, Susan Gould - 455 records, Susan Singleton - 325 records) did 60 percent of the names.
A big thanks to all of these volunteers for the hundreds of hours it took to build out our database.
The general accepted number of Pearl Harbor servicemen fallen is 2,335. Our database is currently at 2,319. Our starting list had some duplicates and we removed the names of some individuals who did not actually die at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. If we discover any names we have left out, we will add them.
For each of these fallen we now have this added information beyond name, rank, and branch:
Unit
Home state, county, and city
Service number
Burial place
Date of birth
Noteworthy information
Links to Fold3, FindAGrave, HonorStates, and TogetherWeServed pages
With this level of information as a jumping off point, our volunteers can begin the task of researching the stories of all of these fallen.
At this point about 700 of the Pearl Harbor fallen names are assigned out. With nearly 100 volunteers, we are in good shape to get all 2,335 stories done by December 7, 2021.
That said, we welcome anyone who is interested to join us. Email don@storiesbehindthestars.org to learn more.