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HOLYOKE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A World War II veteran who went unidentified for decades was buried with full honors in his home state of Massachusetts Saturday.
Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class Merle Hillman, a Holyoke native, was killed on Dec. 7, 1941 in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Hillman was serving on the USS California when the ship was struck by two torpedoes and a bomb and sunk.
More than 100 sailor and Marines onboard the ship lost their lives. Many of the remains recovered from the ship were unidentified and buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) began to exhume unknown remains associated with the California and reexamine them using advances in forensic technology.
Hillman's body was finally identified on Oct. 20, 2023. His remains were returned to Massachusetts on Wednesday and laid to rest at St. Jerome Cemetery in Holyoke with full military honors on Saturday.
Hillman was a decorated U.S. Navy member. He was awarded seven honors: Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal (Fleet Clasp), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (Bronze Star), World War II Victory Medal, and American Campaign Medal.
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