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[vc_row fullwidth=”0″ row_space=”remove_padding” isfullwidth=”0″][vc_column][rev_slider slidertitle=”slider 1″ alias=”slider-1″][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”3″][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1539141626394{padding-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Total Killed Aboard the U.S.S. Arizona” number=”1177″ icon_position=”number-top”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Total Crew Recovered & Identified” number=”105″ icon_position=”number-top”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Total Crew Unrecovered from the U.S.S. Arizona” number=”1072″ icon_position=”number-top”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]
December 7th, 1941…. “a date which will live in infamy”……
Today, we now have the opportunity and the technology to begin identifying 85 crew members removed from the U.S.S. Arizona and currently buried in commingled graves labeled only as “unknown” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. They have been left as “unknown” for way too long and it’s finally time to bring them home.
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DPAA / Navy / Marines Project Numbers (Reported Monthly)
Last Update: July 4, 2025
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1539141626394{padding-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Minimum Crew Represented by DNA to Begin (60% DoD Threshold Requirement)” number=”643″ icon_position=”number-top” icon_color=”NAVY BLUE”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Total Crew Represented by DNA on File at AFDIL Lab (Fully Completed DNA/FRS Process)” number=”535″ icon_position=”number-top” icon_color=”RED”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”% Towards DoD “643“ Threshold Goal” number=”83″ icon_position=”number-top” icon_color=”RED” symbol=”%”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”3″][vc_column_text css_animation=”appear”]
“Operation 85” Project Numbers (Reported Daily)
Last Update: July 13, 2025
[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1539141626394{padding-top: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Total OP85 Family Members Participating” number=”1263″ icon_position=”number-top” icon_color=”GREEN”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”Total of Crew Represented by at least 1 OP85 Family Member w/viable DNA (Completed or in Process)” number=”616″ icon_position=”number-top” icon_color=”GREEN”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][gva_counter title=”OP85 % of Crew Represented Towards DoD Threshold Goal” number=”96″ icon_position=”number-top” icon_color=”GREEN” symbol=”%”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”3″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-82puIMWe8″ el_width=”70″ align=”center”][vc_column_text]
“Operation 85”
A Call For Help
Dear friends:
My name is Kevin Kline, and I am the Executive Director of the U.S.S. Arizona “Operation 85”. I am also the great nephew of GM2c Robert Edwin Kline USN, who was killed December 7, 1941 aboard the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. My uncle’s remains, along with 1071 of his fellow shipmates, were never recovered.
“Operation 85” is a mission to identify through DNA, the 85 (or more) U.S.S. Arizona crew members, both U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps members, whose graves have been commingled, marked as “unknown” and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hi. I am writing to you to ask for help with outreach and awareness as we try every effort we can to reach and locate other family members for this important undertaking. Help could be something as simple as just sharing this website on your social media or within a group email list.
Most people assume that all of the unrecovered crew are entombed within the U.S.S. Arizona and rest underneath the Arizona Memorial, but this is not true. There are multiple commingled graves 10 miles away from the ship marked simply as “Unknown USS Arizona”. Other WW2 ships recently have had very successful projects of matching DNA to the remains of family members for positive identification. However, one of the most iconic battleships in naval history, continues to be pushed aside and overlooked. Why?
As director of this volunteer, civilian endeavor, we are working hand in hand with the United States Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the National Park Service, the US Navy & Marine Corps Casualty Office and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner’s System. However, the effort for outreach and awareness to meet the threshold for family DNA participation has fallen directly on the family members. Our goal is to find other family members of the 1072 unrecovered U.S.S. Arizona crew members, so they can provide a family DNA sample to the Armed Forces Medical Examiners System and ultimately help identify the unknowns.
Your assistance could help change the trajectory of this mission’s outcome, and help accelerate the removal of the word “unknown” from these past American heroes. It’s time to bring these American service member’s home!
Again, simply sharing this website could result in another family member seeing it and coming forward to help identify another hero of the U.S.S. Arizona.
I hope you’ll continue to share our message and our success, as we work together to identify the “unknowns” of the most iconic battleship in naval history, the U.S.S. Arizona BB-39.
Sincerely yours,
Kevin D. Kline
Executive Director
The U.S.S. Arizona “Operation 85”
[/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”4″][gva_call_to_action title=”Meet the Crew” button_align=”button-center” style_text=”text-dark” style_button=”btn-white” subtitle=”We are working hard to” width=”990px” link=”https://ussarizona-navy.rvtechnologies.in/crew/” text_link=”View Crew Member BIOS HERE”]In 2015, Bobbie Jo Buel from Tuzson, Arizona, started a project to research and write a biography about each crew member killed aboard the U.S.S. Arizona on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona. Her amazing work was completed just in time for the memorials opening and is being published and preserved on this website. As we meet and discover new family members during “Operation 85”, the task of telling these servicemen’s story will always be a “work in progress”. Please reach out if you have any information, pictures or documents to share about a particular service member aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.[/gva_call_to_action][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeInUpBig”]
U.S.S. ARIZONA BB 39 – December 1941, MUSTER
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WATCH:
The History of the USS Arizona Unknowns
& “Operation 85”
[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/W90d2WcvsMQ?si=XftM-zZ7cRw2iT21″ el_width=”50″ align=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn”][vc_separator color=”black” border_width=”2″][/vc_column][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”4944″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeInDown”][gva_block_heading title=”“At ‘Em Arizona“ News Page” desc=”News & Info about the U.S.S. Arizona BB-39 and “Operation 85“”][gva_blogs_stick_list loop=”size:4|order_by:date|post_type:post”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”middle” row_space=”padding-small”][vc_column width=”2/3″ offset=”vc_col-lg-8 vc_col-md-8″][gva_block_heading title=”Our Mission” style=”style-2″ title_tags=”h1″ align=”align-left” desc=”The mission of “Operation 85“ is to identify the “unknown“ American service members from the U.S.S. Arizona buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hi.”][gva_portfolio_carousel per_page=”5″ remove_padding=”” items_lg=”3″ items_md=”3″ items_sm=”1″ items_xs=”1″ ca_speed=”5500″ ca_auto_play_speed=”5500″ ids=”2151, 2155, 2157, 2156″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][gva_icon_box title=”Family Members are the Key!” description=”It all starts and stops here. We need a large family participation to make this opportunity a reality. And this window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller with each generation that passes. Thank you to all the families that have already selflessly donated their DNA sample in an attempt to identify and match the unknown crew members.” icon_position=”top-left” link=”#” icon_width=”fa-2x” margin_bottom=”margin-bottom-2″ image=”4033″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][gva_icon_box title=”85’s Partnerships include YOU!” description=”Museums, parks, schools, military and veterans associations, etc… are all getting on board to spread the word and help us to find the family members of the unknown U.S.S. Arizona crew members. You can be a partner simply by sharing this page on your social media or through email. Please help us bring these unknowns home.” icon_position=”top-left” link=”#” icon_width=”fa-2x” margin_bottom=”margin-bottom-2″ image=”4033″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][gva_icon_box title=”“85 on the 85th“” description=”We’ve set a goal to acquire the minimum number of family member DNA samples required to have the DPAA announce the start of the “85 unknowns“ identification process BY or BEFORE the 85th anniversary of the attack on Pear Harbor; December 7, 2026.” icon_position=”top-left” link=”#” icon_width=”fa-2x” image=”4033″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ offset=”vc_col-xs-6″][gva_icon_box title=”SUPPORT OUR MISSION” description=”For family members, providing your DNA sample is crucial to match the unknowns. We can’t do this without you. For non-family members, you can support our site and project by spreading the word on your social media and sending the website link to everyone on your email list. You can also buy a shirt or souvenir from our website store.” icon_position=”top-left” link=”#” icon_width=”fa-2x” image=”4033″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ offset=”vc_col-lg-4 vc_col-md-4″ el_class=”column-border”][gva_block_heading title=”Stay Updated!” style=”style-2″ align=”align-left” desc=”If you would like periodic updates on our progress, or would like to just reach out to us with a comment or suggestion , please message us below!”]
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