More than eight decades after a chain of explosions tore through Pearl Harbor's West Loch and swallowed his remains, U.S. Army Pfc. Owen M. Norris is finally coming home to Marriottsville. His flag-draped casket was scheduled to arrive at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport on Thursday, ahead of a burial in his Maryland hometown on Saturday.
Norris, the seventh of 12 siblings, enlisted in the Army in May 1941 and was later assigned to the 29th Chemical Decontamination Company, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. His brother Donald was just 15 years old when Norris went missing in action, Northwest Voice reports.
A Catastrophic Chain Reaction at Pearl Harbor
Norris was killed in May 1944 when explosions destroyed six military cargo ships in Pearl Harbor's West Loch, as reported by WMAR 2 News Baltimore. According to Military.com's account, the disaster began at 3:08 p.m. on May 21, 1944, with an explosion aboard LST-353.
The West Loch disaster killed 132 Navy, Army, and Marine Corps personnel, WMAR 2 News Baltimore's report notes. Nearly one-third of the total military casualties were members of the Army's 29th Chemical Decontamination Company, according to the U.S. Army. The War Department listed Norris simply as killed in an explosion, and his body was not recovered.
The West Loch Disaster
Landing ships were staged at West Loch that May, and the assault fleet departed for its mission only one day behind schedule, per Military.com's reporting.
From the Punchbowl to a Modern DNA Match
Navy and Marine Corps personnel and unidentified casualties were initially buried at Halawa Naval Cemetery, while Army casualties were buried at the cemetery at Schofield Barracks, according to WMAR 2 News Baltimore. The American Graves Registration Service exhumed remains in 1947 and worked to identify the unknown dead, but 49 sets of remains could not be identified and were laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, known as the Punchbowl.
An identification of another West Loch casualty prompted officials to pursue identifying the remaining unknown service members, WMAR 2 News Baltimore reports.
A Decade-Old DNA Sample Pays Off
Norris's remains, held in casket X-286 Halawa, were exhumed in November 2025. Forensic scientists identified him using DNA testing, dental records, and other evidence.
The breakthrough traced back nearly a decade, to when Norris's niece, Carlethea Norris, provided a DNA sample that ultimately enabled forensic scientists to confirm his identity in July 2026, Northwest Voice reports. Norris is believed by federal officials to be the only West Loch casualty from Maryland, according to the outlet's account of his return.
A Rosette and a Long-Awaited Homecoming
Norris had been listed among the missing from World War II at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. A rosette will be placed beside his name, WMAR 2 News Baltimore reports.
Pfc. Owen M. Norris will be buried in his hometown of Marriottsville on Saturday, finally closing an 82-year chapter for a Maryland family that never stopped waiting for answers.
