Lawrence E. Woods

Lawrence E. Woods was born near Greenwood, Wise County, Texas on 18 November 1913 to Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Woods. Woods graduated from Greenwood High School and later enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Dallas, Texas on 28 October 1940. Woods reported for duty on the USS Oklahoma on 26 January 1941.

On the morning of 7 December 1941 the USS Oklahoma was berthed in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii when the base was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The Oklahoma capsized due to damage sustained from multiple torpedoes. Four hundred twenty-nine sailors and marines from the Oklahoma were killed in the attack. F1c Woods was initially listed as missing; his status was later amended to reflect he died as a result of the attack.

During salvage operations, numerous remains were recovered, interred in mass graves, and listed as “unknowns”. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains associated with the USS Oklahoma and transported them to one of two  DPAA laboratories at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickman, Hawaii, and Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska for forensic and scientific analysis in order to identify them.

F1c Woods was identified through mitochondrial DNA analysis in August of 2019. His remains will be sent to Greenwood Cemetery in Greenwood, Texas where he will be buried near his parents, brother Merlin Woods, and sister Ina Bea Woods Jameson.

NOTE: F1c Woods younger brother Machinist Mate 1c Winfred Woods was also assigned to the USS Oklahoma and was also killed in the attack. Authorities were able to identify Winfred and he is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. (Punchbowl Crater)