Keith Warren Tipsword was a United States Navy sailor who was killed on the USS West Virginia when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His remains were recovered between December 1941 and November 1942. They were identified on July 12, 2022.
Background[]
Keith Tipsword was born on June 21, 1914 in Moccasin, Illinois to Franklin Wiley and Laura Mabelle (nee Doty) Tipsword. Growing up, he was the older brother of at least five siblings. Later in life, he joined the United States Navy and was assigned to the USS West Virginia (BB-48). At the time of his death, he was a Navy Machinist's Mate, 1st Class.
Pearl Harbor Attack[]
At about 7:48 AM on December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service conducted a surprise military strike against the United States at the naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The USS West Virginia was hit with torpedoes, but thanks to the crew's counter-flooding measures, the ship came to a final rest on the shallow harbor floor and did not capsize.
Overall, 2,335 Americans were killed in the attack; 106, including Keith, were on the USS West Virginia. The surprise attack led US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to declare December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". The following day, the US Congress declared war on Japan, which led to the United States' formal entry into World War II.
Aftermath[]
Keith was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. His name is featured in Court 2 of the Courts of the Missing of the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu. Additionally, he has a grave at Moccasin Cemetery in his hometown. Between December 8, 1941 and November 24, 1942, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the USS West Virginia personnel, who were subsequently buried at the Halawa and Nu'uanu Cemeteries.
In September 1947, the American Graves Registration Service was tasked with identifying the remains from the Pacific Theater. Although most of the personnel were identified, there were still 25 USS West Virginia personnel, including Claude, unaccounted for. The AGRS eventually ruled Claude and the remaining crewmen as unrecoverable, and 38 sets of unidentified remains potentially associated with the USS West Virginia were buried in 35 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Due to the higher number of unidentified remains, it is suggested that crew members from other ships were killed on the USS West Virginia.
Identification[]
In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began the USS West Virginia Project, which led to the exhumation of the 38 sets of remains that are being reexamined by advanced forensic technology. Due to these advances in forensic technology, the remains of Keith Warren Tipsword were identified on July 12, 2022. His identification was announced on July 20, 2022.