Sailor Killed In Pearl Harbor Finally Laid To Rest
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A World War II hero gets a touching farewell on Memorial Day.
A generation after his death, Walter H. Backman was laid to rest Monday. He was killed while serving in Pearl Harbor.
CBS 2's Jeremy Ross reports on how science helped him finally return home.
This kind of holiday travel carried a somber sound at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
The traveler tragically found his way back by plane, then by hearse, draped in the flag of the country he served and died for seven decades ago.
Radioman Second Class Walter H. Backman was just 22 when he was killed.
Back in 1941, he was one of 429 on the USS Oklahoma who perished in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Backman's remains and most others remained unidentified until now.
"He was identified thorough dental records and also through DNA," said his nephew Walt Pickens who added that a program comparing the DNA of those who died with living relatives made a match back in August.
Time wiped out most of the loved ones who knew him, but 76 years after he was killed, hundreds of stangers are drawn to his story, standing in as his family and military family graveside.
"I'm amazed at all the outpouring of honor and respect," said Pickens.
Backman is buried in the same cemetery as his parents. His final resting place in the veterans section.