USS Arizona Operation 85

09/25/2026

📣 In Case You Missed It! 📣

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has been awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award for exceptionally meritorious service!

This award recognizes the incredible work accomplished by the team from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025.

If you were assigned or attached to DPAA during this period—even if you've since PCS'd, retired, or moved on to a new assignment—you are authorized this award. Wear it proudly!

A huge thank you to every member of the team for your exemplary performance and dedication. Your efforts have brought great credit upon yourselves and the agency, honoring our nation's promise to leave no one behind.

09/18/2026

Thank you Pete Hegseth, our Secretary of War, for mentioning our USS Arizona Unknowns today at the Pentagon POW/MIA Recognition day ceremony. We've fought a hard battle the past three years to hear that, and we hope you'll come to Pearl Harbor on December 7th for the disinterment ceremony.

09/18/2026

You can watch LIVE at 10AM ET today's event at the Pentagon recognizing National POW/MIA Day. OP85 will be there in person today!

POW/MIA Recognition Day 2026

09/18/2026

An incredible weekend in Dover, Delaware, at the DPAA Family Member Update.

More than 600 Gold Star family members came together, including 16 members of our USS Arizona family.

As a proud Defense POW / MIA Accounting Agency partner, Operation 85 was represented by our leadership team, including Kevin Kline, John Hardy and Melinde Lutz Byrne, as we continued strengthening the relationships that are helping move the USS Arizona accounting mission forward.

We spent valuable time with our partners at DPAA, strengthened our working relationships with the Navy and Marine Corps Service Casualty Offices, and had the opportunity to visit our friends at the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) for a tour of their remarkable facility.

Behind every case is a family. Behind every identification is an extraordinary network of people committed to bringing answers home.

That is why we do this work.

December 7 is getting closer. 🇺🇸

08/15/2026

Today, we remember S1c Marvin Geise, a member of the USS Arizona crew, born on August 15, 1920.

Marvin was just 21 years old when he was killed aboard USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

More than eight decades later, we continue to say his name, remember his service, and honor the sacrifice of the men of U.S.S. Arizona.

Happy Birthday, Marvin. You are not forgotten.

https://ussarizona.navy/marvin-frederick-geise/

08/11/2026

07/16/2026

This week we honor the birthday of Elwyn Leroy Brown, EM3c, U.S. Navy, who was born on July 19, 1919, in Kansas.

Elwyn Brown served aboard the USS Arizona, and like so many of the men lost at Pearl Harbor, he was more than a name in history. He was a son, a loved one, and a young American whose life mattered.

At Operation 85, we remember these birthdays because every crew member deserves to be honored not only for their sacrifice, but for the life they lived.

READ MORE about Elwyn here: https://ussarizona.navy/elwyn-leroy-brown/

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Elwyn. We remember you. 🇺🇸

07/15/2026

Today we honor the birthday of William V. Ball, S1c, U.S. Navy, who was born on July 15, 1920, in Iowa.

William Ball was a member of the USS Arizona crew, and like so many of the men lost at Pearl Harbor, he was far more than a name in history. He was a young American with a family, a future, and a life that mattered.

At Operation 85, we believe these birthdays should be remembered. Every crew member of the USS Arizona was someone deeply loved, and they deserve to be honored not only for how they died, but for the lives they lived.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, William. We remember you. 🇺🇸

07/14/2026

We were told it couldn’t be done.

Too hard.
Too expensive.
Too impractical.
Then one family member refused to quit.
For 3 years, Gold Star Family Member Kevin Kline and Operation 85 fought to help give America’s Pearl Harbor Unknowns their names back.

This December 7th, 2026, 141 Pearl Harbor Unknowns will begin the DNA identification process.
Unknown No More.

Follow USS Arizona Operation 85
and learn more at

Support Operation 85’s mission to identify unknown Sailors and Marines from the USS Arizona and honor those never properly identified after 1942.

07/13/2026

Over the past three years, Senator Graham’s staff was always kind, responsive, and willing to help Operation 85 whenever we reached out on behalf of USS Arizona families.

At a time like this, I especially want to thank the staff members who worked closely with us behind the scenes. Their professionalism, responsiveness, and willingness to help families did not go unnoticed.

Wishing strength and peace to all of them in the days ahead.