US Department of Defense: Remains of La Crosse World War II sailor identified

LA CROSSE — The U.S. Department of Defense says the remains of a Wisconsin serviceman killed during World War II have been identified.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains of Navy Seaman 1st Class George Naegle, of La Crosse, from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. He was among the unidentified military personnel buried in 46 plots in the cemetery, known as the Punchbowl.

Naegle's battleship, the USS Oklahoma, was attacked by Japanese aircraft while it was moored at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The attack killed 429 crewmen, including Naegle.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.