North Georgia gives hero’s homecoming to fallen WWII seaman

It’s not every day the shoulders of four-lane highways and overpasses are lined with families holding flags and waiting for a hearse to pass.

But that happened Friday as word spread that the remains of a recently-identified Navy seaman who died in the 1941 attack at Pearl Harbor would be passing through the area on the way from Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta to a funeral home in North Carolina.

Navy Seaman 2^nd Class Frank Wood, 25, of Jackson, Ohio, was one of those who died when the USS Oklahoma, moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, was sunk by Japanese aircraft during the attack.

A procession escorting the hearse carrying Seaman Wood passed through the area on I-85, I-985, Ga. 365 and U.S. 441, with veterans, residents, families and public safety personnel gathering along the way to salute the fallen hero.

In Hall, Habersham and Rabun counties, orchestrated and spontaneous displays of patriotism and tribute took place, culminating when the procession passed.

In Habersham County, emergency personnel stood by at intersections, stopped cross traffic onto Ga. 365 and escorted the motorcade.

On the Business 441 overpass in Cornelia, Cornelia firefighters and police, area veterans and a number of others gathered underneath a giant American flag draped from the Cornelia Fire Department ladder truck as the procession passed.

A total of 429 crewmen aboard the USS Oklahoma were killed in the early morning hours of Dec. 7, 1941, after the ship quickly capsized from the numerous torpedo hits.

Wood will be buried Saturday with full military honors in Franklin, N.C.

The U.S. Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency reports Wood’s remains were among those considered unidentified and buried in Honolulu in the years that followed. In 2015, crews began exhuming the remains for more analysis. Officials report DNA analysis and dental comparisons helped identify Wood’s remains.

Sadly, like so many of his shipmates, Wood was buried with nearly 400 others as unknowns in 46 plots in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In 2015, as part of the USS Oklahoma Project, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, through a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, exhumed all of the unknown remains from the USS Oklahoma, and began the lengthy identification process.

In late 2017, DPAA made its 100^th identification from the ship’s casualties.

People line Ga. 365 to pay tribute to fallen Seaman 2nd Class Frank Wood, who died about the USS Oklahoma in the attack on Pearl Harbor at age 25 and remained unidentified until recently.

Flags wave, veterans and others salute as the hearse transporting Seaman 2nd Class Frank Wood passes under the Ga. 385 (Business 441) bridge in Cornelia.

Escorted by Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell and the Georgia State Patrol, the hearse carrying Seaman 2nd Class Frank Wood heads north on Ga. 365 in Cornelia.

Sgt. Chris Clarke and members of Cornelia Fire Department fold the 18-by-24-foot American flag after Friday night's procession carrying fallen Seaman 2nd Class Frank Wood, who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Lt. Col. Ed Hendricks of Habersham County stands with other veterans awaiting the procession's arrival.

The procession heads north on 985 from the Elachee area. Photo: Alyson Shields

The procession on Interstate 985, traveling through the Oakwood area. Gainesville firefighters held a parade flag over the Elachee Bridge with several onlookers standing by. Photo: Alyson Shields

Firefighter/EMTs from the Gainesville Fire Department prepare to unfurl an American flag at the Elachee Bridge over I-985 for the funeral procession of fallen WWII sailor Frank Wood. Photo: B.J. Williams

Kaity Latty, Tammy Hulsey, Nathan Latty and Andrea Timpone await the procession from the Elachee Bridge over I-985. Photo: Alyson Shields

http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/4/659680/north-georgia-gives-heros-homecoming-to-fallen-wwii-seaman