(Exira) Next month, a Memorial Service for U.S. Navy Soldier Eli Olsen, who lost his life at Pearl Harbor, will be held in Exira.
John Henry of Jewell, Iowa, says his Uncle Eli Olsen was a Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class on the ship serving as a storekeeper on the USS Oklahoma was 23-years old when he lost his life on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Henry says it wasn’t until the summer of 1942 that crews could get the ship upright and remove the solder’s remains.
The family now has the remains in their possession, and a memorial service is planned for September 25 at the Exira Lutheran Church. The burial will be in the Exira Cemetery.
John Henry says a lot of the family members are coming back to Exira for the service.
Eli’s three brothers also fought in WWII, two were wounded, but all three made it home. John Henry says his mother Ruth, Eli’s sister was the last sibling to pass away. Ruth was 100, eight months, and three days old when she passed away.
(Photo courtesy of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
