MOSSYROCK, Wash. — Cecil Barncord’s family never thought they’d have a chance to say farewell.
But more than 80 years after his death, the World War II veteran received a burial with full military honors at Mossyrock’s Swofford Cemetery Wednesday.
“It’s very emotional because I’ve been trying to get this to happen since 2015,” said Barncord's nephew, Tom Rowe.
Barncord died during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was killed when the Japanese torpedoed Barncord’s battleship, the U.S.S. Oklahoma.
The Navy said 429 sailors died when the ship sank. Most of the remains were unidentified until DNA research conducted by the military began in 2015.
In October 2016, Barncord’s remains were identified.
It took years for the military to track down Barncord’s oldest surviving relative, Larry Mason, an 81-year-old nephew in Mossyrock.
“I was six months old when he was killed at Pearl Harbor,” said Mason.
Mason has other relatives buried in Mossyrock and thought it would be a good place for the uncle he never met.
"It’s amazing they go to all this just to find out who he is … I appreciate it,” said Mason, “The military takes care of its men, and its women.”