Pearl Harbor News & Discoveries

Eighty-plus years on, Pearl Harbor's history is still being written. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) continues to identify the remains of unknown sailors and Marines recovered from the USS Oklahoma and USS West Virginia, returning fallen service members to their families generations after their loss — more than 350 Oklahoma crewmen alone have been identified since the disinterment project began in 2015. Deep-sea expeditions — most notably the late Paul Allen's RV Petrel and follow-on missions — have located long-lost wrecks across the Pacific, including the USS Arizona's stern detail and other ships sunk in the attack.

This collection tracks those discoveries: forensic identifications, anniversary programming at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, declassified archive releases, museum acquisitions of newly-recovered artifacts, and new scholarship that reframes what we thought we knew about December 7th. You'll also find coverage of survivor reunions, the dwindling roster of living Pearl Harbor veterans, and the ongoing conservation work being done on the Arizona itself as oil continues to seep from her bunkers.

Visitors who want to see the latest finds in person can tour the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, which rotates artifacts and exhibits as new material is conserved and authenticated. To stay close to events and ceremonies on the ground in Oahu, the official plan-your-visit page keeps current visiting hours, anniversary programming, and security policies updated in one place.

History does not finish. The articles below capture the work — archaeological, forensic, archival — that keeps it moving.