Delco vet lost at Pearl Harbor is laid to rest 81 years later
DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) -- After more than eight decades, a World War II veteran from our area was finally laid to rest Thursday.
Family members waited 81 years for U.S. Navy 'radioman' Charles Montgomery to have a proper burial. He was one of the 429 crewmembers killed when the USS Oklahoma was attacked in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Prior to Thursday, Montgomery's family would travel to the mass grave in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii's Punchbowl Crater to pay their respects.
"It's very emotional," said Joanne Shawber, Montgomery's niece. "It's an honor, but it's been a long journey."
It took 20 years for the Montgomery family to go through the DNA identification process. But now he's at rest near his family.
Those family members include his youngest brother, Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Montgomery, who also served in the Navy.
"We knew he was up in heaven, but he wasn't home," Shawber said. "It gives us peace and it gives us closure."
"We know where he is," Shawber added. "And he's home, he's with his brothers, his mom, his grandpa. He made it home. He made it full circle."