Nearly 84 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Georgia native lost in the early hours of America’s entry into World War II will finally be laid to rest with full military honors.
Chief Warrant Officer John Gaynor Connolly was killed on December 7, 1941, when the USS Oklahoma was struck by Japanese torpedoes and capsized in Battleship Row. The Savannah-born sailor was 48 years old.
For decades, Connolly was among hundreds of Sailors and Marines listed as “Unknown” after the attack. His remains were identified last year through DNA analysis and forensic testing by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Connolly’s family will honor his memory at a funeral service on March 27, 2025, at Arlington National Cemetery. He will receive full military honors.
A LIFE OF SERVICE
Born in Savannah on April 28, 1893, Connolly began his Navy career in 1913. He enlisted in Boston and rose through the ranks to become a Chief Pay Clerk, a Warrant Officer specialty responsible for overseeing payroll and finances aboard ship.
His service took him across the globe, including tours in China, Russia, and the Philippine Islands. Among his awards and decorations are the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, and the World War I and World War II Victory Medals.
At the time of his death, Connolly was living in Long Beach, California. He was serving aboard the USS Oklahoma, a battleship moored at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor when Japanese forces launched their surprise attack.
Within minutes of the first torpedo strike, the Oklahoma rolled over, trapping hundreds of men inside. Connolly was among the 429 Sailors and Marines who perished.
HONORING A HERO
In 1944, the Navy honored Connolly’s service by naming a destroyer escort after him. The USS Connolly (DE-306) was launched by his widow, Mary Francis Connolly, at Mare Island Navy Yard in California.
The ship earned two battle stars for its service during World War II before being decommissioned in 1945.
But for decades, Connolly himself remained unidentified, buried as an Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. That changed with the launch of Project Oklahoma, an effort by the Navy and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to identify the remains of those lost aboard the Oklahoma.
Since the project began in 2015, 356 Sailors and Marines have been identified. Connolly’s family received official word of his identification last year.
His nephew, also named James Brendan Connolly, called the news “an answer to a prayer.”
Connolly’s uncle, James Brendan Connolly, was the first modern Olympic champion, winning the triple jump in the 1896 Athens games.
A FINAL RESTING PLACE
The Navy will transport Connolly’s remains from Hawaii to Arlington for his interment. A full Navy honor guard, rifle team, and a bugler sounding Taps will accompany his burial.
As the nation remembers those who served and sacrificed, Connolly’s story stands as a testament to duty, honor, and the promise that no one will be forgotten.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
