For families connected to the U.S.S. Arizona, the mission to identify the Unknowns has created something powerful: hope.
But with hope comes responsibility.
Over the past three years, Operation 85 has helped locate and connect more than 1,600 U.S.S. Arizona family members to the effort to identify the men who were recovered from the ship after the attack on Pearl Harbor, buried as Unknowns, and left without their names for more than eight decades.
As this mission has gained national attention, more families have begun receiving calls, emails, and outreach from researchers, contractors, genealogists, organizations, and others claiming to be connected in some way to the U.S.S. Arizona identification effort.
Some may be legitimate.
Some may be well-intentioned.
Some may not fully understand the process.
And some may have no official connection at all.
That is why families have started calling Operation 85 with a very reasonable question:
“Is this person legitimate?”
It is a question every family should feel comfortable asking.
Why families are being contacted
The identification of World War II Unknowns depends heavily on family participation. For the U.S.S. Arizona Unknown Identification Project, eligible relatives may be asked to provide family history, confirm relationships, help locate other relatives, or submit a Family Reference Sample for DNA comparison.
That kind of work requires outreach.
But it also involves deeply personal information — names, addresses, family trees, relationships, dates of birth, contact information, and sometimes sensitive family history.
Families should never feel pressured to provide that information to someone they cannot verify.
The mission is too important, and the families are too valuable, for anyone to be careless with trust.
What Operation 85 wants families to know
Operation 85’s position is simple:
Before you provide personal information, verify who is contacting you.
That does not mean every outside researcher or contractor is suspicious. It means families should know exactly who they are speaking with, what organization that person represents, what their role is, and whether that organization is officially connected to the USS Arizona identification effort.
A legitimate person should not be offended by verification.
In fact, they should welcome it.
If someone becomes defensive, vague, rushed, or unwilling to explain their role, that is a red flag waving hard enough to qualify as cardio.
Questions families should ask before sharing information
If someone contacts you about a USS Arizona family member, ask direct questions:
Who do you work for?
Are you a government employee, government contractor, nonprofit representative, volunteer, private genealogist, or independent researcher?
What organization authorized you to contact me?
Are you working with DPAA, AFDIL, the Navy Casualty Office, the Marine Corps Casualty Office, or Operation 85?
What information are you requesting, and why?
How will my personal information be stored, protected, and shared?
Will my information be sent to a government agency or kept by your organization?
Who can I contact to independently verify your role?
These are not rude questions. These are responsible questions.
What families should not do
Families should be cautious about sending personal records, family trees, birth dates, addresses, DNA-related information, or private documents to anyone whose role has not been verified.
Families should also avoid assuming that someone is official simply because they know details about the U.S.S. Arizona, mention DPAA, reference DNA, or use professional-sounding language.
In this work, credibility matters.
So does consent.
Why Operation 85 is receiving these calls
Families are contacting Operation 85 because they know our mission, they know our work, and they know we have been directly involved in helping build the family network that made the U.S.S. Arizona DNA threshold possible.
Operation 85 spent the past three years locating families, explaining the process, helping them understand Family Reference Samples, and encouraging participation in the effort to identify the Unknowns.
That work was not theoretical. It helped move the U.S.S. Arizona Unknown Identification Project from years of uncertainty to a historic milestone.
So when families are unsure who is reaching out to them, many are doing exactly what they should do: they are asking questions before handing over personal information.
We encourage that.
The difference between official and unofficial outreach
There may be several types of people involved in this broader mission.
Some may be official government representatives.
Some may be contractors working on behalf of a government office.
Some may be genealogists assisting with family research.
Some may be nonprofit partners or volunteers.
Some may be independent researchers with no formal role.
The key is not to panic. The key is to verify.
If someone is officially connected to the process, they should be able to explain that connection clearly. If they are not officially connected, families deserve to know that too.
Transparency protects everyone.
Operation 85’s role
Operation 85 does not replace the official government process. The formal identification process involves agencies such as DPAA, AFDIL, and the appropriate military Service Casualty Offices.
But Operation 85 has become a trusted bridge for many U.S.S. Arizona families.
We help families understand the mission.
We help explain the importance of Family Reference Samples.
We help direct families toward the appropriate official channels.
And when families receive outreach they do not understand, we do our best to help them verify whether that contact appears legitimate.
That is what responsible advocacy looks like.
A simple rule for families
Before you share, verify.
Before you send documents, verify.
Before you provide family contact information, verify.
Before you assume someone is official, verify.
No family should feel rushed, pressured, or confused when participating in a mission this sacred.
This mission belongs to the families
The U.S.S. Arizona Unknowns are not case numbers. They are sons, brothers, uncles, cousins, shipmates, and loved ones.
Their families deserve honesty, clarity, and respect at every step.
Operation 85 will continue working to protect that trust.
Because identifying the Unknowns is not just about science. It is about families. It is about dignity. And it is about making sure the men buried without names are never again surrounded by silence, confusion, or uncertainty.
If you are a U.S.S. Arizona family member and have been contacted by someone regarding DNA, genealogy, family history, or the identification of the Unknowns, and you are unsure whether the outreach is legitimate, contact Operation 85 before sharing personal information.
We are here to help families ask the right questions.
And when it comes to protecting this mission, asking questions is not only allowed.
It is necessary.