OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KSWO) - Private First-Class Charles Robert Taylor returned to his home state of Oklahoma Tuesday, 82 years after his death.
The Marine was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor back in 1941. He and several others were trapped on the capsized U.S.S Oklahoma.
“When they finally righted it, they had a lot of bodies they couldn’t identify anymore,” said his nephew, William Biggers.
Pfc. Taylor and several unidentified crewmen spent years buried in Oahu, Hawaii. On December 5th, just two days before the attack’s anniversary, his family and fellow Marines welcomed him home.
”Really, he’s a son of Oklahoma,” Biggers explained. “It just felt like it was my duty to do that. I owed my grandfather and I owed his siblings to do that. Of course none of his sibling are alive anymore. We’re all just nephews and nieces.”
The timing wasn’t by chance. Biggers said this week was the perfect time to honor his uncle.
”Pearl Harbor Day was the appropriate day to bring him home,” he explained. “We lost him on Pearl Habor. Let’s bring him home on the anniversary of his death.”
Biggers said he was contacted 8 years after sharing DNA samples to help identify the remains. He got that confirmation in 2021. He says he was happy, but one thing was missing.
“I just wish my mother could’ve heard that, because this was her brother. She talked about him a lot.”
A family, forever changed after the loss of one of its sons, can now rest, knowing their ‘Bob’ is back home.
Private First Class Taylor was officially laid to rest on Thursday, Dec. 7, in Carnegie. He will receive full honors for his service. His family opened his ceremony to anyone who wanted to pay their respects.