TERRE HAUTE — Second cousins and Indiana natives Paul Newton and Wayne Newton, who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, will be buried with full military honors in May.
The burials follow their recent identification through the efforts of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for recovering and identifying service members unaccounted for from past conflicts. Both sailors served as seamen 1st Class aboard U.S. Navy battleships during the attack.
Paul Newton, a native of the unincorporated community of Romney in Tippecanoe County, served aboard USS West Virginia. He enlisted on Jan. 9, 1940, in Chicago, and was promoted to seaman first class on July 1, 1941. His awards include the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Wayne Newton, a native of the city of Terre Haute, was serving on the USS California. He enlisted on April 12, 1938, in Indianapolis, and held the rating of seaman first class. His awards include the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, and the World War II Victory Medal.
Wayne Newton’s surviving family resides in Terre Haute. His burial will be at 11 a.m. May 16 at Grandview Cemetery in Terre Haute.
Paul Newton’s surviving family lives in Greenville, South Carolina. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on May 11.
The Imperial Japanese Navy’s surprise military strike on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii aimed to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack destroyed over 20 ships and over 300 planes, and killed over 2,400 Americans. The attack propelled the United States into World War II.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s Pearl Harbor Ships Project expanded its work to include USS West Virginia, USS California, and USS Utah, following the success of the USS Oklahoma project.
Laurel Freas, project lead for the Pearl Harbor Ships Project for the agency, said the process of identifying people from USS California began between January and March 2018, with the disinterments of 25 unknown service members associated with the ship. There were 103 total casualties from USS California, and as of August 2025, 10 identifications have been made from 20 unresolved casualties and 25 unknown service members.
For USS West Virginia, the identification process began between June and October 2017 with the disinterments of 35 unknown service members. There were 105 total casualties from the ship. As of June 2022, 13 identifications have been made from 25 unresolved casualties and 35 unknown service members.
Freas said scientists at labs at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, and Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, develop and recommend cases for final identification to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s science director. Identification involves forensic anthropology and odontology analyses, the examination of material evidence from personal effects, as well as isotopic and DNA analyses of bone samples. The analyses are compared with medical records and DNA reference samples from family members.
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