John C. England

Ensign John Charles England (December 11, 1920 – December 7, 1941) was an officer in the United States Navy. He died on USS Oklahoma after it was torpedoed and sank in the Japanese Empire's attack on Pearl Harbor. The circumstances of his death have been described as heroic, was first raised in Oklahoma City and moved to Alhambra, California in his youth. He and his sister Lennie England (Bemiss) attended Alhambra High School. In 1938 he was elected president of his graduating class. In high school, he was a member of the "Light and Shadow" drama club, acted in a senior play, and Senior Hi-Y. After graduation, he then attended Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California, matriculating in 1940. He had many extracurricular activities.efn-ua|As a member of the Players Guild he was in the cast of their annual fall presentation of "Bachelor Born." He was a Pep Commission Yell King. He had membership in Delta Psi Omega, a national honorary dramatics fraternity performing in their annual spring production, written in 1923, Outward Bound.

England survived the attack. Amidst smoke and flame, disregarding concerns for his personal survival and safety, "the young officer refused to leave without helping others trapped in the depths of the battleship." Despite the order to "abandon ship", he returned three times into the ship and back to the radio room, saving three shipmates. He died during a fourth attempt.

England's family learned of his death via a postal telegram sent by Admiral Chester Nimitz.

Unlike James R. Ward and Francis C. Flaherty, who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions on USS Oklahoma,

Burials England's remains were recovered in 1949. He and four others were buried together as unidentified at the Punchbowl Cemetery, more formally called the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

A total of 429 crewmen were killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. From December 1941 through June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of those who perished, interring them in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries in Hawaii. In September 1947, the remains were disinterred by the American Graves Registration Service, and transferred to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.

Only 35 of the 429 sailors and Marines who died on Oklahoma were identified in the years following the attack. The remains of 388 unidentified sailors and Marines were first interred as unknowns in the Nu'uanu and Halawa cemeteries, but were all disinterred in 1947, in an unsuccessful attempt to identify more personnel. In 1950, all unidentified remains from Oklahoma were buried as Unknowns in 61 caskets in 46 graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In 2003, a Pearl Harbor survivor, Ray Emory, conducted inquiries which resulted in the exhumation of a single casket associated with the Oklahoma loss. DNA evidence and anthropological research revealed that remains are "extremely commingled" at least 95 individuals were within the first disinterred casket based on mitochondrial DNA results. In 2015, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency dug up nearly 400 sets of remains from a Hawaii cemetery. Cutting edge forensic science and genealogical help from families were employed to identify the fallen. It is expected that 80 per cent of the battleship's missing crew members will be identified by 2020.

On December 7, 2007, the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a memorial for the 429 crew members who were killed in the attack was dedicated on Ford Island, just outside the entrance to where the battleship is docked as a museum. Missouri is moored where Oklahoma was moored when she was sunk. The USS Oklahoma memorial is part of Pearl Harbor National Memorial and is an arrangement of engraved black granite walls and white marble posts. According to the National Park Service, "in 2015, as part of the USS Oklahoma Project, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, through a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, exhumed all of the unknown remains from the USS Oklahoma. Through December 2017, DPAA made their 100th identification from the ship's casualties. The process began in June 2015, when four graves, two individual and two group graves, were disinterred. In December 2017, 100 had been identified; at the end of fiscal year 2018, 181 Oklahoma unknowns had been identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. On February 26, 2019, the 200th unknown was identified. On December 6, 2019, the US Department of Defense announced that 236 remains had been identified from Oklahoma and that 152 had yet to be identified. As of Fiscal year 2020, 267 missing crew have been accounted for.

In 2016, the United States Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency resolved to identify the Oklahoma crew using DNA testing. England's remains were found within the grave of unknown soldiers at the National Cemetery of the Pacific. His niece attended the funeral, which included a large procession. There was an "impressive motorcade and the services" were covered by the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel, who were creating film footage in 2016 for the 75th anniversary coverage of the Pearl Harbor attack.

In 1943, destroyer escort was named in his honor. DE-635 was decommissioned in 1945.

As 'down payment' on this promise, the second ship to bear the name, the Guided Missile Cruiser was launched in 1962. Originally called a 'destroyer leader' or 'frigate' (DLG), in 1975 she was re-designated a cruiser (CG) in the United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification. England was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation a final time for actions performed August 2 to 16, 1990. She was scrapped in 2004.

Since then, beginning on the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a grass roots petition has been circulated to commission a third USS England, "to recognize and honor the service and sacrifice of Ensign John Charles England," and to demand fulfillment of Admiral King's promise.

Alhambra High School continues to award the John C. England award each year to the graduating senior who has "excelled in character, integrity and benevolent service."

Military awards

Purple Heart American Defense Service MedalAsiatic–Pacific Campaign MedalWorld War II Victory Medal