Michael Galadjik’s family always hoped to give him a hero’s burial.
It would take 75 years, but it finally happened.
The 25-year-old Galajdik died in Pearl Harbor aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma in December of 1941. After the torpedoed and burning Oklahoma capsized, a few dozen crew members were rescued by workers who were able to cut holes in the hull. But the giant ship’s story is one of the most haunting in the annals of the Navy. Taps on the hull gave clues to where other crew members were trapped.
But those taps ceased after three days.
Many months later, Galajdik’s remains would be buried along with 387 other unidentified sailors and marines in mass graves in a Honolulu cemetery. And there the story ended, for over 70 years.
It’s a heartbreaking part of Galadjik’s family lore which has spanned decades, births, and deaths. In all, 429 sailors and marines died. Of the 388 unidentified crew from the Oklahoma, 18 were from Illinois.
Two years ago the Department of Defense launched a major effort to disinter all of the unidentified crew from the Oklahoma to apply modern science in hopes of getting positive I.D.’s.
Local
“They were separated to like body parts, for the most part,” Rear Admiral Michael Franken, director of the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency told NBC 5 at the time the project was launched. “Our task will be to disinter about five graves a week over the course of the next six months, then in the span of five years, make those identifications.”
Nephew George Sternisha of Crest Hill and his sister both submitted samples to the Navy lab to help in the efforts to identify their uncle. And in February, he received the phone call he had imagined his entire life: the body of his uncle had been found. And on Sunday, came that hero funeral they had always hoped would happen.
“He knew what was on the line when he joined the Navy,” Sternisha said. “War was there. War was imminent with Japan and Germany. And he knew it!”
As Galajdik’s hearse made its way to Joliet’s St. Raymond Nonnatus Cathedral, hundreds lined the route, waving flags, and holding flowers. At the church, the theme of his service was simple: welcome home.
“Welcome home to Joliet,” said Father Ron Neitzke. “After 75 years, welcome home to your family. Welcome home to the community. Welcome home to your eternal place of rest.”
That final rest came at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in suburban Chicago, with a full military honor funeral. An honor guard offered a 21 gun salute. A bugler played taps. A Grumann Avenger torpedo bomber performed a flyover.
“This was our goal,” Sternisha said. “This was my mother’s goal. This was her wish. And wishes do come true!”
Michael Galajdik was finally home.
