Brothers Harold and William Trapp did everything together, even joining the U.S Navy in 1939 where they served on the USS Oklahoma.
Tragically the close siblings, who were born in Chicago and raised in La Porte, Indiana, died together after Japanese fighter pilots torpedoed the battleship in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
The event which led the U.S. to enter World War II resulted in 429 crewmen losing their lives.
For decades the brothers, along with their fellow servicemen, have remained unidentified.
“When they joined and enlisted, they enlisted on the same day ― together,” their neice Carol Sowar told Hawaii News Now. She said their mother, Irene, had been bothered for years that her brothers were not buried in a “dignified” manner.
In 2020 after decades of work identifying those lost in this attack the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency were able to identify the brothers using dental and genetic evidence.
Seventy years after their deaths the brothers were laid to rest with full military honors at Punchbowl Cemetery in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
The brothers share a plot, one casket atop the other, as per Fox News.
“When I got the call, I broke down and cried and cried and cried,” Carol said.
The ceremony included 12 family members, 75 uniformed service members, including around 55 sailors, Stars and Stripes reported.
Each brother received a rifle salute and a rendition of “Taps.” Sailors folded an American flag over each casket, one of which was presented to Sowar and the other given to her son, Matthew.
Describing the service as “beautiful” Carol said she was thankful that her uncles were finally receiving the respect they deserved after so many years.
“This was very hard on my mother, and the fact that they were not buried the way that you’d want them to be buried, with dignity and a service, always bothered her,” she added.
All those that lost their lives that day deserve all our respect. I’m thankful that these families finally have closure.
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