Floyd Francis Clifford

Floyd Francis Clifford was born on a farm in Mulvane on August 10, 1921 to parents Charlotte A. (née McCurry) and Jesse H. Clifford.  He enlisted in the Navy in January, 1941, attended basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago, Il., and advanced training was completed at Farrugut, ID. He was assigned to the USS Oklahoma in San Diego with deployment to Pearl Harbor, HI.  He served in the Pacific on the USS Oklahoma as Seaman, 2nd class, until that ship was sunk by torpedoes at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. He lost his life in that attack, and his unidentified remains were buried in a grave in Honolulu, HI known as the Punchbowl. His name appears on the war memorial at The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific which will now have a rosette.  At the time of his death, he was survived by his parents and his 8 siblings: Cliffie, Edward, LaVerne, Jess, Arthur, Marjorie, Raymond and Melba. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exhumed the unidentified remains of 394 sailors and marines lost on the Oklahoma, to identify them using DNA analysis so they could be returned to their families. DPAA announced that Navy Seaman 2nd Class Floyd F. Clifford, 20, of Mulvane, killed during World War II, was officially accounted for on Sept. 27, 2016.  Full military graveside honors will be at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at the Richland Cemetery, rural Douglass, Kansas.

He is currently survived by his sister, Melba, and numerous great and great-great nieces & nephews.

The link below provides further information:

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3194829/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-wwii-clifford-f/