Sioux City, Iowa — A Sioux City sailor who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor is coming home, and flags in the state are to go to half-staff in his honor.
The remains of storekeeper third class Harry Nichols will be buried Friday at a ceremony at Memorial Park Cemetery. Mark Nichols is the nephew of the sailor and he was contacted about identifying his uncle’s remains after he had his DNA tested by a national company.
The COVID pandemic prevented the Navy from holding a visit with the Nichols family until this April 1st when they got together with Nichols and his sister at her home in Tennessee. They brought a 100-page book to the family with Nichols’ history of service and an explanation of the identification process,
He says there was also a letter from Harry’s mom.
Harry Nichols was 20 years old when he enlisted in January of 1941 and had turned 21 when he died 11 months later at Pearl Harbor. Mark Nichols says his dad went through North Africa into Italy and fought in nine major campaigns and did say that there wasn’t a day that didn’t go by that he didn’t think of his brother. Mark intends to do something very special at Friday’s ceremonies:
Project Oklahoma started in 2015 to identify 388 service members who were unaccounted for after the ship was hit at Pearl Harbor. There have now been 355 individuals identified using DNA reference samples from USS Oklahoma families as well as many medical and dental records from the Oklahoma service members.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has ordered all flags in Iowa to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Friday, May 13, 2022 to honor Nichols. Graveside Services will be at Memorial Park Cemetery at 6605 Morningside Avenue in Sioux City at 11:00 a.m. this Friday.
Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex. Flags will also be half-staff on all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state.
Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties, and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect.
