World War II soldier’s remains laid to rest in Bloomfield, Nebraska

Nearly 79 years ago a Nebraska man was killed aboard the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor. 

That man was Joseph Maule. Last year his remains were identified, and on Thursday, he was laid to rest in Bloomfield, Nebraska.

On December 7, 1931, Maule’s life was taken too soon when his ship was bombed at Pearl Harbor. 

“It was my grandfather that signed the papers that allowed my uncle to go into the Navy at 17-years-old, so my grandfather always felt partially responsible for my uncle being at Pearl Harbor in 1941,” Josh Maule, Joseph Maule’s great nephew, said. 

For the past 78 years Maule was listed on the wall at Pearl Harbor as MIA when his body was not identified after the day that will live in infamy. 

In 2015 the Department of Defense started to exhume remains from the USS Oklahoma.

“The Navy contacted our family and requested a DNA sample. Our relatives submitted the sample that allowed the Navy to identify those bones,” Josh Maule said. 

In September of 2018 he was identified as Joseph Keith Maule of Bloomfield, Nebraska, a small town north of Norfolk. Getting his remains back to his hometown was set in motion. 

All of his siblings and parents have passed, but his many nieces, nephews and cousins flew to the small northeast Nebraska town. 

“We got the word out to everybody in my family, and we all wanted to be there, and many of us are here,” Paul Bogner, Joseph Maule’s great nephew, said. 

Military honors were provided at the Bloomfield cemetery by the United State Navy Funeral Honors Detail, Veterans Foreign War Post and the American Legion. 

“They say that no one really dies unless their memories die, so it’s my job as a father now, my sister’s job and my cousins jobs who have their new children, to help them and pass those stories on,” Josh Maule said.