By Edie Schmierbach, Mankato Free Press

Burial arrangements have been made for a Mankato sailor killed at Pearl Harbor whose remains were identified this year, more than seven decades after his death.

Radioman 2nd Class Quentin Gifford was 22 years old when his ship, the USS Oklahoma, capsized after being struck by torpedoes Dec. 7, 1941.

His brother, Harold, 94, of Woodbury said services will be May 2 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

When determining a burial date, Harold Gifford and his sister, June Shoen, kept in mind the age of many of the veterans and other well-wishers who plan to pay respect to the deceased sailor.

“June and I decided on the first Saturday in May,” he said. “That’s a much better time for an outdoor service. And there’s plenty of time to do it right.”

Quentin Gifford’s remains, identified in July, will be flown

to Minnesota, where morticians from Wulff Mortuary in Woodbury will be waiting at the airport.

The military service will include a 21-gun salute and an honor guard detail will accompany Quentin Gifford’s casket to a fire hall in the Twin Cities area.

“That’s where the family will congregate,” Harold Gifford said.

The U.S. Navy — since February 1942 — had listed Quentin Gifford as lost in action.

Gathered human remains from the attack site in the Pacific Ocean were brought to a Navy laboratory in 1941. Staff were able to identify relatively few of the dead seamen. Unidentified remains were buried in a gravesite in Hawaii.

In 2015 a process began to exhume sailors so their DNA could be analyzed. Three of Quentin Gifford’s siblings, Shoen, Harold Gifford, and Earl Gifford — who has since died, contributed their DNA for analysis in 2016.

Harold Gifford, who also served in World War II, was interviewed earlier this year on the day he was informed his brother’s remains had been identified.

Through the decades, family members hoped Quentin’s death had happened quickly.

“I had this hope his body had been completely destroyed — that he had not been obliged to suffer,” Harold Gifford said.

He now believes his brother’s death was fairly quick after viewing details about his remains, provided by the military.

Waiting lists are long for interment at national cemeteries; however, since Quentin Gifford served in World War II, his burial was made a priority.

Fort Snelling officials have been amazingly receptive to the needs of the Gifford family, Harold Gifford said.

Staff made arrangements to bring Harold Gifford to the Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day commemoration Thursday at the Historic Fort Snelling site in St. Paul.

“They’ve asked me to say a few words about my brother during the program,” Harold Gifford said earlier in the week.

Pearl Harbor attack survivor Charles Sehe, 94, who lives in Mankato, served aboard USS Nevada during World War II.

Mankatoan Vincent Eberhart, a police petty officer, was among those who died at Pearl Harbor when the USS Arizona sank. No remains have been identified as Eberhart’s.