Remembering the Fallen in Siouxland, Harry E Nichols, Sioux City

Member of the Navy Reserve Center of Des Moines, Iowa remove the flag for taps and a rifle salute as the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII are laid to rest next to his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022, 81 years after his death. The Nichols were residents of Sioux City. Nichols was killed along with other members of the ship’s crew during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. His identity and other remaining crewmen identities became known through the use of modern technology and identified in May of 2019. Burial had been delayed because of the COVID pandemic until now. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Recently a sailor from Siouxland was laid to rest eight decades and a year after his death. Sailor Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols was buried in Sioux City with military honors after perishing aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Members of various American Legion Posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts salute as the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII. Nichols was buried alongside his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022, 81 years after his death. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Member of the Navy Reserve Center of Des Moines, Iowa carry the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII to his final resting place for his funeral and he will be laid to rest next to his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Nichols was killed along with his shipmates during the February attack and like many others, until recent technological capabilities became available he and others were not identified. But with new tests and DNA analysis Nichols was brought home to Sioux City where he had grown up and enlisted in WWII and buried next to his parents in a local cemetery.

Member of the Navy Reserve Center of Des Moines, Iowa place the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII in place for his funeral and he will be laid to rest next to his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Nephew MARK NICHOLS, left seated, his wife Diane Nichols, niece NANCY EISCHEIT, second from right, and her husband, GARY EISCHEIT attend the funeral where the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII are laid to rest next to his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Taps is played as the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII are laid to rest next to his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022, 81 years after his death. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©

Members of various American Legion Posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts pay tribute as the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII was buried in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022, 81 years after his death. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Remaining relatives and family and members of local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts attended the ceremony honoring his life and service on what turned out to be a nice day, as days preceding and later brought some storms rolling through the region. And for a family that never really knew what had happened to to this relative some closure and remembrance a long time in the making.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa

Rear Adm. TERRY EDDINGER, right, presents the flag to NANCY EISCHEIT, center, while her sister-in-law DIANE NICHOLS, left records the event as the remains of her uncle, Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII are laid to rest next to his parents in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022, 81 years after his death. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

The remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII are laid to rest in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13, 2022. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

A flag flies half staff above a military cannon prior to the remains of Storekeeper 3rd Class Harry E. Nichols who served on the USS Oklahoma during WWII being laid to rest in Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City, Friday, May 13. (photo by Jerry L Mennenga©)

Siouxland remembers Pearl Harbor, Sioux City

I attended a short ceremony today commemorating the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan which resulted in the death of many military personnel and civilians, and the prelude to the entrance of the United States into World War II. In the 1990’s I did a few different portraits of individual persons who served in the military. These three gentlemen were survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time I was shooting film for the small northern California paper I worked for and so don’t have the mens’ names to pay tribute to them. Even after hearing these stories it’s almost impossible to realize what these men went through.

 

Watching the ceremony today in Sioux City at the Morningside branch of the public library, it gives one pause, seeing the age of the men, and members of the audience, mostly north of 65, it’s sad to think that in a few years this momentous event will be remembered by   people living in the U.S. much like the battle of Gettysburg and the civil war, or the battle of the Argonne Forest fought during the first world war. No one in living memory will be around to remind us of the cost of these battles, and sadly, that great thought should be given before launching into another one, which members of Congress, although well-meaning, seem to think too lightly about the cost to those going into the fight. And this piece of history will be remembered like so many others before it, in books, if people read them. And hopefully learn from them as well.

Jerry Mennenga

Sioux City, Iowa