The Navy and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) have dropped their initial opposition to disinterring the graves of battleship Arizona crew members buried more than 80 years ago as unknowns for possible identification and return to their families.

In a late Thursday release, DPAA announced that the Operation 85 advocacy group led by family member Kevin Kline had met the 60% threshold of DNA Family Reference Samples for the number of crew members thought to be buried in the commingled graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the “Punchbowl.”

Although DPAA initially opposed the USS Arizona (BB-39) Unknown Identification Project, DPAA extended “its sincere appreciation” to Kline, grandnephew of Arizona crew member Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Edwin Kline, “and the ‘Operation 85’ team for their devoted efforts over the past three years to locate and connect enough USS Arizona families to help reach this important milestone.”

Last November, Operation 85 announced that they had reached the required 60% threshold for the Arizona, meaning 643 families. However, it has awaited DPAA confirmation since then.

In a phone interview with Military Times Thursday, Kline, who runs a real estate company in Fairfax County, Virginia, with his wife, Elizabeth, said the threshold agreement was a long time coming. He became obsessed with the possibility of identifying the unknowns after attending a DPAA update to the families in Norfolk, Virginia, three years ago.

But he had to go up against a March 2022 report to Congress regarding the cost to identify those buried as unknowns.

“Identifying the Sailors and Marines buried in the [Punchbowl] will cost the Navy and the Marine Corps casualty program offices approximately $2,700,000 for just their portion of the larger effort,” the Navy report said.

While the Navy Department, DPAA and other agencies “agree that the identification of the 85 Unknowns associated with USS ARIZONA and buried at [the Punchbowl] is feasible, it will require significant resources and an inordinate amount of time,” the Navy report said.

In addition, “Pursuing this effort will give false hope to the vast majority of USS Arizona families that their loved one may be identified,” the Navy report said.

However, in the effort to track down families and get their permission for DNA samples, “we turned a hard ‘No’ to a ‘Yes,’ Kline said.”

“It’s wonderful and we’re very excited to have hit this milestone” that will allow exhumations to begin,” Kline said. “But I feel like the work is not done yet, we still have new families to find,” he said. “But it’s much easier now knowing that the DPAA and everybody else is on board and I’m not just a rogue family member doing this alone anymore.”

Kline said that he and other family members were surprised to learn that there were crew members — including his great uncle, Gunners Mate 2nd Class Robert Edwin Kline, who died aboard the Arizona at age 22 — who were not entombed in the Arizona when it was sunk on Dec. 7, 1941.

His great uncle and others may have been blown clear of the ship by the force of the eight bombs that hit the Arizona from Japanese attack planes, Kline said, or by the huge explosion of the Arizona’s ammunition compartment.

The battleship suffered more loss of life than any American ship during the attack, its 1,177 dead comprising nearly half the 2,403 killed at Pearl Harbor.

Of the ship’s dead, 277 of its sailors and Marines are buried in Honolulu’s National Memorial of the Pacific. The identity of at least 85 of those men remain unknown to this day.

Kline’s great uncle and others could be among the remains of those recovered by Navy divers after the war before the mission was deemed too dangerous.

“Growing up in our family — we knew our uncle was never found [because] he was in the ship. That’s where everybody always thought where he was,” Kline said.

The hull of the 608-foot Pennsylvania class battleship Arizona now rests at the bottom of Pearl Harbor as the final resting place for more than 900 of the ship’s 1,177 crewmen who were killed on Dec. 7, 1941.

Above the hull, without ever touching it, is the gracefully stunning Arizona Memorial, officially known as the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, managed by the National Park Service.

The sloping roof of the memorial’s design, crafted by Austrian-American architect Alfred Preis, was intended to convey the profound symbolism of war and remembrance. The roof “sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expressing initial defeat and ultimate victory” in World War II, Preis said after the 1962 dedication of the memorial.

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints selected Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson with the eighth pick in the NFL draft on Thursday night, adding a potential playmaker to a position group that could use one.

“I’m ready to hit the ground running right now,” Tyson said. “I keep getting better. I just want to continue on that track. Work works.”

The 6-foot-2, 203-pound Tyson — whose brother, Jaylon Tyson, plays in the NBA with Cleveland — was the second receiver drafted behind Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, who went fourth overall to Tennessee.

The 21-year-old receiver said his name was called in the draft around the same time he he saw his brother hit a 3-pointer in Cleveland’s 126-104 Game 3 playoff loss against Toronto.

Now, Tyson joins a Saints receiver corps that was headlined by four-year veteran Chris Olave in 2025, but had little depth behind him after Rashid Shaheed was traded to eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle.

“This is a great add to that group,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said, highlighting Tyson’s ability to make plays on deep balls as a wideout, as well as his ability to play as a slot receiver.

Tyson said he met Olave during a pre-draft visit to New Orleans and bonded well with him.

“It’s going to be amazing to take pressure off each other, make our jobs easier,” Tyson said. “I feel like us, (covered) one on one — shoot — it’s going to get ugly.”

The Saints entered the draft with their most apparent needs at receiver, edge rusher and defensive back.

Last season, Tyson played in nine games at Arizona State, catching 61 passes for 711 yards and eight touchdowns in a campaign shortened by a hamstring injuries in both legs.

He had his best season statistically in 2024, catching 75 passes for 1,101 yards and 10 TDs.

But more than his statistics, it was Tyson’s knack for making clutch plays and the knowledge of football he exhibited in meetings with staff in New Orleans is what sold the Saints on him.

“You felt the football junkie in him,” Moore said. “He’s got a really smart head to him as far as football acumen and awareness about what’s going on in this league.”

Tyson’s injury history also includes torn knee ligaments — requiring reconstructive surgery — when he played at Colorado in 2022. He played in just three games in 2023 with Arizona State because of a broken collar bone.

But he dismissed concerns about his health going forward, and said his recent training with former NFL receiver Hines Ward, a receivers coach at Arizona State, has helped him learn how to maintain his body like a pro football player should.

“I’m going to give myself the best opportunity to stay on the field and be as healthy as possible,” Tyson said. “I’m going to do everything in the weight room, do everything with nutrition, I’m going to have a chef. I’m going to get a massage on the same day every week.”

Moore didn’t sound too concerned, either.

“Guys are going to go through things they have to navigate,” Moore said. “He battled through it and that’s a credit to him. … This guy’s a really tough football player. He’s battled some things — and that’s a positive.”

Today’s Lineups

A rare three-hour game for the Diamondbacks last night: 3:02, to be precise. Just the third of the season, and the first at Chase Field since the home opener. I guess at least it gave the SnakePitette and her husband their money’s worth: they were at the ballpark for the first time together. She popped in to borrow some items from the extensive collection of D-backs wear possessed by Mrs. SnakePit and myself. I await a report on whether they had… what is it the young people call it? Oh, yes: “fun”. Maybe not a game for baseball purists, but with six home-runs and three triples, no shortage of action.

Advertisement

Despite last night, the D-backs are actually seeing shorter games in general this year, even though we now have ABS challenges. The average game has been 2:41 long, which is three minutes less than last season. However, a factor there may be the lack of extra innings: Arizona has played only three frames over regulation through 24 games. That’s one every eight games, which is below last year’s rate of one extra inning every six games. Across all of baseball, nine-inning games are on average four minutes longer than in 2025. Right now, they average 2:42, which is the longest since the pace of play changes came in for the 2023 season.

We are seeing slightly more plate appearances per game, and also the number of pitches per plate-appearance is higher. The former may be due to an increase in extra-inning games: at 9.5%, the current rate would be the highest since 2013. The latter is at 3.93 pitches/PA, the second highest since records started being kept in 1999 (it was 3.97 in 2020). I wonder if this is a result of ABS? I do note we are seeing more walks per game than any year since 2000. But strikeouts are also up on last year too, so… We are still less than a month in to the new normal though, so let’s see how things work out.

Join the conversation!

Sign up for a user account and get:

Advertisement

• Comment on articles, community posts

• Rec comments, community posts

• New, improved notifications system!