The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE RETURN OF PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JOHN F. MIDDLESWART
______
HON. DARRELL ISSA
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, June 4, 2021
Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the homecoming of United States Marine Corps Private First Class John Franklin Middleswart, who was previously pronounced deceased and unaccounted for after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On June 8, 2021, PFC Middleswart will be laid to rest in eternal peace at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California, witnessed by living relatives.
Born in Peoria, Illinois on April 10, 1921, John F. Middleswart enlisted with the Marine Corps at age 19. After finishing boot camp in San Diego, he attended Sea School and was assigned to the Marine detachment aboard the USS Oklahoma stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In October 1941, he was promoted to Private First Class.
Moored on Battleship Row, the vessel was struck by multiple torpedoes from Japanese aircraft during the assault on the morning of December 7, 1941. When the ship capsized, PFC Middleswart and hundreds of his fellow crewmen were reported missing and later declared dead. For decades, they were memorialized at the Court of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On January 28, 2021, PFC Middleswart was the 300th identification made by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in the USS Oklahoma Project. The DPAA works to identify all servicemembers lost during World War II and other conflicts. Specifically, the USS Oklahoma Project seeks to identify the remaining unaccounted-for crewmen of the vessel and is on track to identify 90 percent of the exhumed remains by the end of this year.
The final burial of PFC Middleswart is made possible by the dedication and fortitude of the men and women of DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System team of scientists. DPAA's noble mission to identify all fallen servicemembers is not yet complete, but each identification is a step closer. And, while we mourn this life that was cut short, we rejoice the reunification of the Middleswart family. Welcome home, PFC Middleswart. Semper Fidelis.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 97
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