A Long Wait at Pearl Harbor
by Morgan Zeigler
Wallace Eakes
June 2, 1987-August 27, 2012
Navy Storekeeper 3rd class, Wallace Eldred Eakes waited 76 years for his headstone at Ft. Logan National Cemetery. Eakes came from humble beginnings; he was born on July 26, 1919 in Caney, Kansas as the youngest son of a farmer. He attended the local high school, participating in a wide array of musical and sporting activities. After graduating in 1937 he moved to Filer, Idaho and worked as a farmhand. On January 23, 1939 Eakes enlisted for 4 years with the US Navy. After completing training and being accepted into service on June 13, 1939, he arrived on the USS Oklahoma in September. On December 7, 1941 Wallace Eakes was killed in action at the age of 22. Torpedoes fired from approaching Japanese planes hit the USS Oklahoma, moored off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. The ship capsized and 429 crewmen died. In 1949 Eakes was interred in the Punchbowl [National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific] alongside other unknowns from the USS Oklahoma. Recent technological advancements allowed the DPAA [Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency] to disinter and begin identifying remains. Eakes was finally accounted for on September 26, 2017. He was laid to rest on June 21, 2018 with full military honors, the patriot guard on watch, and tolls of the Honor Bell.
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