After decades of being interred in Hawaii under an “Unknown” headstone, Libolt’s identity was officially confirmed in 2025. This breakthrough allowed his remains to be moved from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to Nebraska, where he will be buried alongside his younger brother, Clarence, who also died during World War II. The funeral service is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nov. 13 at Fort McPherson National Cemetery near Maxwell.
The scientific path to identification
The journey to bringing Libolt home began in June 2019, when the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) started the process of exhuming 12 graves at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. At the time of the original attack, technology was insufficient to identify several service members, leaving Libolt’s name etched only on the “Courts of the Missing.”
The resolution of his case relied on modern forensic capabilities and the cooperation of his living descendants. Scientists used a DNA sample provided by the family of Libolt’s twin sister, Leona, to confirm his identity. Loretta Augustus, the daughter of Libolt’s twin sister, helped make the identification possible and chose Fort McPherson National Cemetery as his final resting place so he could be buried in Nebraska.
A life interrupted at Hickam Field
Born on March 11, 1920, in Gregory, South Dakota, Libolt spent his formative years on a family farm near Carlock. Following the death of his mother when he was 12, the family relocated to Nebraska, settling near Burton and Newport. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 1939, eventually serving with the 50th Reconnaissance Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group, stationed at Hickam Field on Oahu, Hawaii.
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor extended to Hickam Field, where Libolt was stationed. Muriel Anderson, a fellow soldier from Omaha, provided a harrowing account of the morning’s events. In a letter to the Libolt family dated Aug. 10, 1942, Anderson described seeing Libolt running toward a section of the barracks during a second attack; that section was destroyed shortly thereafter.
Libolt was one of 182 Army airmen killed at the field that day, part of a larger loss of more than 2,000 Americans during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Following the attack, the Army initially listed Libolt as missing in action.
| Event Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Date of Death | Dec. 7, 1941 |
| Age at Death | 21 |
| Military Unit | 50th Reconnaissance Squadron, 11th Bombardment Group |
| Location of Death | Hickam Field, Oahu, Hawaii |
A father’s lifelong search
After the attack, Navy personnel recovered remains from Hickam and buried them at Schofield Barracks Cemetery. In August 1947, the American Graves Registration Service transferred these remains to a laboratory at Schofield Barracks for identification, but the technology of the era could not confirm Libolt’s identity, leading to his status as an “Unknown.”
Now, as the casket arrives at Denver International Airport from Hawaii, the decades-long separation between the soldier and his family’s home is finally closing.
