Pearl Harbor survivor, 91, helps identify unknown dead

Warren P. Hickok broke his right leg as a boy. Payton L. Vanderpool Jr. had a missing front tooth.

Those physical characteristics eventually aided the identification of the men, decades after they were killed on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Using detective-like skills and personnel records, Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Emory, 91, has made it his mission to ensure graves are properly identified at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which fills the Punchbowl crater in Honolulu. So far, he has aided in the identification of nine service members who died that fateful Sunday morning.

"I sleep at night," Emory said. "It's very satisfying."

On Friday morning, the former sailor's efforts were recognized during a ceremony marking the 71st anniversary of the attack.

"He is bringing closure to family," said Rear Adm. Frank Ponds, commander of Navy Region Hawaii. "It (also) brings closure to the shipmates and other survivors who served during this time."

Emory, a native of Peoria, Illinois, was serving as a seaman first class on the light cruiser USS Honolulu that fateful Sunday morning.

Flying from aircraft carriers, Japanese pilots attacked eight American battleships, destroying two, and left a trail of death and destruction. About 2,400 people, most of them in the military, were killed. The Honolulu escaped major damage.

The attack shook America's confidence and ushered the country into World War II. After the war, Emory worked in Washington state before moving to Hawaii 27 years ago. The retiree began his quest, amassing records, including teeth charts.

"My first problem with the Punchbowl was they could not tell me where Pearl Harbor victims were found in the cemetery," Emory said on Thursday.

The amateur researcher likens his time-consuming efforts to solving a jigsaw puzzle. Emory analyzes personnel deceased files, dental records and family information, and provides his reports to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, based in Hawaii.

The command, which identifies unaccounted-for Americans from past conflicts, takes it from there.

Emory's research of military records first led to the 2001 identification of Seaman Apprentice Thomas Hembree, who served on the USS Curtiss.

Dental records and a photo helped authorities identify Vanderpool, assigned to the USS Pennsylvania.

According to JPAC, about 330 of those killed in the attack were buried in graves marked "unknown" at the Punchbowl.

In November 2003, Emory contacted JPAC, suggesting the grave of an unknown sailor could be that of Seaman 2nd Class Warren Paul Hickok. The remains were first buried in Honolulu's Nuuanu Cemetery before being moved to the Punchbowl.

Officials used Emory's information as a starting point for research, and they later locked in on Hickok after a second examination of remains.

"We got lucky in our re-examination of the case," a JPAC historian wrote. "During the original processing of X-2 Nuuanu, they noted in their paperwork that he had a healed right femur. Hickok's medical records had no indication of this injury, but when I looked at his paperwork from his enlistment to the service (paperwork that wouldn't have been previously available), I noticed that he had written that he'd broken his right leg as a boy."

Ponds called Emory a hero.

"I learned from him firsthand we have done a lot, but there is still a lot to do to identify those who lost their lives."

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific sits in a crater that resulted from volcanic activity.

"If you have not been patriotic, once you become immersed in this environment, you become patriotic," said Ponds. "Or you don't have a pulse."

The theme for this year's commemoration at Pearl Harbor was "Coming of Age -- From Innocence to Valor."

"By 1945, these boys had become men," said Ponds.

Friday's ceremony included a tribute to U.S. submarine crews that served in World War II. One in five of nearly 18,000 men who served on those vessels died.

USS Bowfin crew member Robert Beynon, 88, of DeLand, Florida, represented the submarine service.

The Bowfin, launched one year to the day after the Japanese attack, is credited with making the submarine an offensive weapon, rather than just a patrol vessel. It sank between 16 and 44 ships.

Beynon went on three of the Bowfin's nine wartime patrols. He told CNN of one close scrape when a Japanese escort vessel detected the Bowfin after a metal drawer fell. "That noise gave him an opportunity to find us," said Beynon.

The result was 21 depth charges in about 20 seconds, Beynon said, and the submarine hurried to more than 600 feet below the surface.

Jerry Hofwolt, executive director of the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park near the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, said the boat braved a minefield in the Sea of Japan in the closing months of the war.

According to Hofwolt, those in the submarine service had a strong bond of friendship, reinforcing the phrase, "We're all in the same boat."

Friday 14 December 2012

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/06/us/pearl-harbor-anniversary/index.html?iref=obinsite

Many dead in Newtown, Connecticut elementary school shooting

America was tonight facing the prospect of its worst ever school massacre amid reports that as many as 27 people had been killed after a gunman went on the rampage in a kindergarten class. Up to 18 of the dead were said to be children after a parent at the school began firing indiscriminately.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, state police Lt. Paul Vance declined to put a number on the deaths. He would say only that there had been "several fatalities." Police were waiting to notify families before releasing details, but he reassured nervous residents that the school was secure, the danger past.

US media tonight named the alleged shooter as 24-year-old Ryan Lanza.

Television stations beamed pictures of frightened pupils at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, some 65 miles northeast from New York City, as police and other law enforcement officials arrived at the scene.

With parents rushing to a nearby staging area set up by authorities, early reports put the number of fatalities at more than 20 and possibly up to 27, with NBC New York, citing “numerous law enforcement sources”, saying up to 18 children were among the dead.

Another 7 adults were said to have perished, along with a teacher and the gunman. Reuters, citing a local newspaper, suggested that, hours after the news first broke, an entire classroom of children remained unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, it was unclear how the gunman died. Two nine mm handguns were reported to have been recovered from the scene. NBC New York later reported that a man had been taken into custody following the shooting, however it was unclear what role if nay he had in the shooting.

The dead gunman was said to have been the father of a student at Sandy Hook and about 20 years old, according to an official who spoke to CBS News. In all, around 700 pupils regularly attend the kindergarten-to-fourth grade school located in a quiet stretch of suburban woodlands.

Earlier, as the first accounts of the incident emerged, the area was put into lockdown as emergency services scrambled to the school.

“I was in the gym and I heard a loud, like seven loud booms, and the gym teachers told us to go in the corner, so we all huddled,” one student told NBC Connecticut during its live broadcast. "And I kept hearing these booming noises. And we all … started crying.”

She added: “All the gym teachers told us to go into the office where no one could find us. So then a police officer came in and told us to run outside. So we did and we came in the firehouse and waited for our parents.”

Parents interviewed by local television stations said that anyone entering the school during the day must usually ring a bell and show their face on a screen in order to be let inside by school officials, suggesting that the gunman was known to them.

The shooting is the latest such incident to hit America, with the number dead reported to be more than double those killed at Columbine in Colorado, where 13 people were killed in the infamous massacre in 1999.

More recently, Colorado was hit by a mass shooting at a midnight showing of the new Batman film, with the July attack leaving 12 dead and at least 58 injured. At Virginia Tech, a university, 32 people were left dead following a massacre by a student in 2007.

Speaking earlier this afternoon, White House Spokesman Jay Carney said President Obama had been notified about the “tragic” killings in Connecticut and was keeping an eye on the situation as it developed.

“We’re still waiting for more information about the incident in Connecticut,” Mr Carney said when asked about the president's reaction to it. Connecticut’s governor Dan Malloy, who arrived at the scene earlier in the day, was said to have called the President to update him on the killings.

Friday 14 December 2012

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/at-least-27-killed-including-18-children-in-newtown-connecticut-elementary-school-shooting-say-reports-8417931.html

Bopha’s death toll may reach 2000

Death toll of Typhoon Bopha could reach as high as 2,000 with 906 confirmed dead and 932 missing, most of them in hard-hit south Philippines, a senior official said, adding that retrieval missions have continued despite the difficulties they have encountered in devastated areas.

“We will not yet officially declare the missing as dead, unless we find their bodies,” Undersecretary Benito Ramos, also head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in a radio interview.

Aided by K-9 units trained to find missing people, private and government rescuers were emboldened and refused to give up retrieving at least 505 people who were reported missing in the municipalities of Compostela, Monkayo, and New Bataan in hard-hit Compostela Valley, said Undersecretary Ramos.

Rescuers were also assigned to find 108 more who were reported missing in Boston, Cateel, Baganga, and Caraga municipalities in Davao Oriental, where Typhoon Bopha initially landed on December 4, said Ramos.

Noting the difficulty encountered by the rescue teams, Ramos said, “Rotting corpses of animals have been confusing the dogs.”

Thick mud on almost all devastated places has been preventing rescuers to get the buried corpses, said Ramos.

“We saw eight unidentified bodies. The bodies were decomposing and unrecognizable. Two of them were children. A few moments later, rescuers found another body underneath the mud and a fallen tree.

The same rescue team found 56 bodies in New Bataan, said ABS CBN.

The team quoted Aldo Mayor, a veteran rescuer, as saying, “This is my first time to see (the effect of) a massive flash flood.”

The same rescue team was elated when they found a survivor, Narsing Loreta, who said he hid in his wood fired oven at the height of the landslide.

About 5.516 people were affected by the typhoon. Only 59,764 more remained in evacuation centres, NDRRMC said.

Many residents have left their homes and went to nearby areas where they could find food and livelihood.

Some 20 typhoons visit the Philippines every year.

Friday 14 December 2012

http://m.gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/bopha-s-death-toll-may-reach-2000-1.1118660

Filipino bill seeks training of health officers in identifying fatalities

A bill seeking to require all local health officers to have mandatory training in the identification of fatalities from natural and human-induced disasters was filed recently by Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

In his Senate Bill 3368, amending the Local Government Code of 1991, Pimentel noted that in most calamities, many Filipinos not only mourn but also “bear the pain of uncertainty on the fate of their lost family members.”

“We hear news reports of mass burials of unidentified persons simply because the government lacked capable professionals to identify dead bodies,” said Pimentel in the explanatory note of his bill.

Under SB 3368, Pimentel tasked the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and other appropriate government agencies to provide local health officers the mandatory training on the identification of deceased persons.

He stressed that while the Local Government Code mandates the appointment of a local health officer in all levels of local government, most of them are not technically capable of identifying dead bodies during and after calamities.

This skills lack is unacceptable said Pimentel more so since the Philippines is at the top spot of the list of countries with the most number of reported natural disasters and casualties, second only to Japan.

“Considering that local health officers have knowledge on the medical field, it is but apt that they also be empowered to answer and respond to this problem brought about by disasters,” Pimentel said.

“Appropriate and timely management of dead bodies following disasters is a matter of collective well-being, a question of ethics and human dignity,” he stressed.

In 2011, a total of 431 natural and human-induced disasters were reported in the Philippines, resulting in 1,774 deaths, affecting three million families and translating to P26 billion in economic losses.

Meanhile, Sen. Loren Legarda yesterday reiterated the need to institute a nationwide information campaign on the need and use of geohazard maps to local government units (LGUs) to assist in their disaster risk reduction and management efforts.

Legarda made the call in the light of the rising number of death toll from typhoon “Pablo” in the Visayas and Mindanao and the ballooning cost of damage to properties, agricultural and infrastructure, now reported to be estimated at over P15 billion. “Based on the latest statistics released by the NDRRMC, 906 have died and 900 more remain missing, while we have incurred about P15 billion worth of damages due to typhoon Pablo. These would have been avoided if our local government units and all our citizens had knowledge of geohazard maps,” she said.

Legarda, UN Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, said everyone must have knowledge of their geographical location, and whether they are at high risk or not.

During the briefing called by the committee onclimate change on the use and implementation of the geohazard maps, she stressed that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources should not only distribute these maps, but also, and more importantly, educate LGUs on how to read the map and how it will help them in their disaster risk reduction and management efforts.

“No mayor, barangay captain, or kagawad will put their constituents at risk by relocating them to danger zones. However, due to the lack of information, many have died because the relocation sites themselves are geohazard areas. We should plan our cities and municipalities accordingly,” the senator remarked.

“Disasters should not happen before we begin to take action. We should arm our local government officials with the right tools to ensure that our nation is always prepared and resilient to disasters,” she added.

At least 50,000 geohazard maps have been produced since 2007 and another set, recently manufactured with enhanced information, have been distributed already to 380 out of 1,600 municipalities in the country, said Legarda.

Friday 14 December 2012

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/nation/item/8132-koko-seeks-training-of-health-officers-in-identifying-fatalities

Another N.Korean Corpse Found Drifting Off Japan

Yet another North Korean boat carrying a dead body has been found adrift in Japanese waters. Japanese police said on Wednesday they found a man's skeleton in a fishing boat drifting off Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Given the shape and other indications, the 7 m wooden vessel appears to have drifted from North Korea, they added.

A day earlier, the Japanese Coast Guard rescued four people aboard a North Korean boat that had been drifting off Shimane Prefecture due to engine trouble. They will be returned to the North once the boat has been fixed.

On Nov. 1 a fishing boat with one dead body was found washed ashore on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, and on Nov. 28 a boat containing five dead bodies.

A diplomatic source here said the North Korean regime is forcing people to earn hard currency, so an increasing number of fishing boats apparently work ever further out in the open sea and are wrecked by wind and waves.

Friday 14 December 2012

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/12/14/2012121401262.html

Two Police Officers Arrested For Looting Jenni Rivera's Crash Site

Two police officers have been arrested on suspicion of stealing unspecified items from the scene of the plane crash that killed Mexican-American superstar Jenni Rivera.

The Nuevo Leon state government says authorities found images of the scene on the BlackBerry cell phone of Luis Antonio Avila Moreno, 23, on Dec. 11, which contained a number of photos of the crash site including images of body parts and personal documents.

Avila Moreno and Mario Alberto Garcia Pacheco, 24, were on duty guarding the mountainous area where the aircraft went down on Sunday, according to EFE.

Police are trying to determine how the Mexican media got photographs of the secured site, including images of body parts and personal documents.

Investigators searched the homes of the officers who secured the crash site and found victims' belongings in two. The government said Thursday it then arrested the officers.

Thursday 13 December 2012

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/12/13/jenni-rivera-plane-crash-site-robbed-by-police/#ixzz2Eyu3inY0

Typhoon death toll now 902

The death toll from Typhoon Pablo rose to 902 on Thursday but was expected to climb further because 635 people remained missing, an official said.

Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said 567 bodies had been identified, and that most of the fatalities were from Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental, where the super storm made landfall on Tuesday last week.

Ramos said 296 of the more than 300 fishermen who were earlier reported missing in the waters of General Santos City had been rescued.

He said the typhoon affected 5.47 million people and that 79,885 remained in evacuation centers. The damage from the typhoon had reached P15 billion.

The city government of Makati said Thursday the rescuers it sent to New Bataan in Compostela Valley had retrieved 28 bodies, while the Metro Manila Development Authority said its rescue team was able to recover 19.

President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday said P30 million had been earmarked to help at least 6,000 families of migrant workers who were affected by Typhoon Pablo, and that the money would come from the Overseas Workers Welfare Association.

He said the Labor Department would also release P1 million for the affected workers in Caraga and P7 million for those in Davao.

The President also received P5 million in financial assistance for typhoon victims from the Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines and the Japan Seamen’s Union.

“I must admit, until now I am saddened and bothered by the devastation brought about by Typhoon Pablo,” Mr. Aquino said.

“But it is in situations like this that our strength as a nation is measured. We will rise as one nation again.”

Mr. Aquino made his statement even as the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas, an alliance of small fishermen, on Thursday said the money and relief being sent to the typhoon victims should be monitored properly to prevent their falling into the hands of corrupt public officials.

Thursday 14 December 2012

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2012/12/14/typhoon-death-toll-now-902/