Titterington, Everett Cecil 1921-1941

TITTERINGTON, WATSON, GRIFFIN

Posted By: Janet Schuldt, Volunteer (email)
Date: 9/3/2012 at 14:20:01

Spirit Lake Beacon, Spirit Lake, Dickinson, Iowa, USA THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 1942

Memorial Services Held at Milford tor Everett Titterington

MILFORD—The American Legion and Auxiliary sponsored memorial service Sunday for Everett Titterington, who was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7. Rev. J. C. Korthal was speaker on the occasion with Roland Hegg, Larry Jensen, Mrs. L. B. Moreland, Mrs. Dwight Hemphill, Mrs. W. G Anderson. Dr. J. E. Shelledy and Dale Peterson singing. In the Garden, and Let the Lower Lights Be Burning. Dr. H. J. Kooiker also spoke in behalf of the Legion.

The following obituary was read:

Everett Cecil Titterington, oldest son of the late Everett and Mrs Maud Pearl Titterington., was born at Terril, Iowa, August 5, 1921. With the exception of two years in Michigan and two years in the navy Everett had lived his entire life in end around Milford. He attended the Milford schools which he left when 16 years of age and entered the Milford CCC camp. He was later transfered to the camp at Bancroft, Iowa. During the 27 months spent in camps he was a
willing worker and he tirelessly gave his whole effort in helping maintain a home for his four younger brothers and sisters.

On December 9, 1939. Everett enlisted in the United States Navy. He received his three months basic training at the United States Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Illinois. He was home on a short furlough in February 1940.

His one great desire was that his brother, Robert, who is also in the Navy, might reach the Hawaiian Islands so that they could be together. Although Robert’s ship sailed past his brother’s on November 2, 1941, he did not have the opportunity to see him before the disastrous raid on December 7, 1941.

Word was received here December 20, 1941, that Everett was missing, but hope was held that he may have been on one of the outgoing boats. His mother, next of kin, received official word February 1, 1942, that he had been pronounced lost as of December 7, 1941. Everett was of a sunny disposition and was will liked by both young and old alike.

He is survived by his mother, two sisters and two brothers namely, Mildred, now Mrs. Ralph Watson, of Omaha, Nebr., Dorothy of Milford, Pvt. Lyle H., Co. I A F F. F., Ft. Knox, Ky., and Robert B., U. S. Navy, Oahu Island, Hawaii, also a grandmother, Mrs. M. H. Titterington, Pomona, Calif., and a grandfather, J. H. Griffin of Milford, also one niece, Sharon Lea Watson and a host of relatives and friends.

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PRESS RELEASE | May 6, 2024
USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Titterington, E.)
WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Fireman 1st Class (F1c) Everett C. Titterington, 21, of Milford, Iowa, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 23, 2021.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Titterington was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including F1c Titterington.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Titterington.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Titterington’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

F1c Titterington’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

F1c Titterington will be buried on September 5, 2024, in Bloomington, California.

For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Titterington’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XgBgEAK.