Pearl Harbor sailor remains returned to Missouri, buried
The remains of a U.S. Navy sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii have been returned to Missouri to be buried with full military honors.
Clifford George Goodwin had been resting in a common grave at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii for decades, the Springfield News-Leader reported.
New DNA analysis has identified the remains of more than 130 soldiers lost during the Pearl Harbor attack, including Goodwin.
Goodwin was serving aboard the USS Oklahoma when Japanese bombers descended on the ship. Goodwin was among more than 400 sailors and Marines killed aboard the ship on December 7, 1941.
His brother, Dan Goodwin, was also serving on the USS Oklahoma at the time. But Dan Goodwin was on shore during the attack. He searched for his brother for days.
Clifford George Goodwin was later announced missing in action.
More than 100 family, community and U.S. Navy members honored Goodwin at a funeral service May 12 in Diamond, Mo.
“Today a hero has come home,” the Rev. Phillip McClendon said. “A hero is in our midst.” AP
Burials set for sailors killed during Pearl Harbor attack
The families of two sailors with Illinois ties who were killed during the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are preparing for their burials.
Military officials say DNA testing helped identify remains of the sailors who were among 429 killed when the USS Oklahoma sank.
The military says 20-year-old Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class William Hellstern of Peoria, Ill., will be buried May 18 in Wheat Ridge, Colo. A burial ceremony for Petty Officer 2nd Class Walter Howard Backman is planned for Memorial Day in the Chicago-area city of Batavia, Ill.
Carolyn Sellers tells The Beacon-News that relatives from seven states are expected as her uncle is buried near his parents. Backman was born in Wilton, N.D., to a farming family who moved to Aurora, Ill., shortly after his Navy enlistment. AP
Germany eyes goal of 1.5 percent defense spending by 2025
Germany’s defense minister says Berlin will raise its military spending to 1.5 percent of GDP by 2025 — far short of the 2 percent goal demanded of NATO members by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said May 14 that defense spending will reach 1.3 percent next year. She plans to tell allies at next month’s NATO summit that Germany “wants defense spending’s share of the gross domestic product to reach 1.5 percent in 2025.”
German news agency dpa cited experts saying that would amount to about 60 billion euros ($72 billion), compared with 37 billion euros last year.
She didn’t address claims Saturday by the new U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, that Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Trump that Berlin will reach the 2 percent target by 2030. AP