CLEVELAND — A sailor from Steubenville named Stanley Galaszewski, who was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, is finally home. 

What You Need To Know

  • A sailor who was killed during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was buried in Ohio on Friday

  • The sailor could not be identified for decades due to the magnitude of his injuries

  • Thanks to modern technology, the Navy was able to identify the Ohio native and bring him home to be buried

For decades, the Ohio native could not be identified due to the magnitude of his injuries. 

Deb Conti is the great niece of Galaszewski and grew up hearing stories about him and even reading letters he sent back home to Steubenville.

Galaszewski died aboard the USS California during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, but his remains couldn't be identified. The nature of his injuries meant no usable dental records or fingerprints to match. 

Over the years, as science and technology progressed, the Navy continued to work to identify the remains of Galaszewski and dozens of other unidentified sailors.

“In the 2000s, the Navy came to my families' homes in Steubenville and took DNA samples and exhumed the bodies again,” Conti explained. “He was one of the last ones identified May 23 of 2022.” 

Conti, who lives in Cleveland, drove to Pittsburg to pick up her great uncle's remains that were flown in from Hawaii.

The family was able to watch from the tarmac as the remains were deplaned.

Conti said bringing the fallen seaman home is something that her family dreamed of for decades.

“They wish they could have brought him home, they wish they knew more,” she recalled of her family. “As a child, I didn’t understand that they didn’t understand what happened to him. He was assumed killed in Pearl Harbor, but they really had no final story.” 

Once off the plane, the remains were loaded into a hearse and a procession followed from Pittsburg to a funeral home in Steubenville.

Several days later, in a full military sendoff worthy of Galaszewski’s service and sacrifice, he was finally laid to rest.

His final resting place is located right behind his parents' plots. 

“When the cemetery called me and said that, I knew this was the right thing to do, and he’s coming home,” Conti said. “That’s home, that’s where he would have been buried 81 years ago.”