New London brothers among casualties
By Robert Cloud and John Faucher
Three brothers from New London were among the 2,408 soldiers, sailors and airmen who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In a speech to Congress the following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.”
The United States then entered World War II.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Malcolm J. Barber, 22, Navy Fireman 1st Class Leroy K. Barber, 21, and Navy Fireman 2nd Class Randolph H. Barber, 19, were aboard the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor.
During the attack, the battleship sustained multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized.
The Barber brothers were among 429 crewmen who died aboard the USS Oklahoma.
From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the crew, which were later buried in the Halawa and Nu’uanu cemeteries.
In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks.
Laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time.
The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In October 1949, a military board classified the Barber brothers among those who could not be identified and were not recoverable.
Beginning in June 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed, then examined the unidentified remains using advanced forensics technology.
On June 10, 2021, the agency announced that it was able to identify the Barber brothers.
Family responds
Heather Barber, the wife of Mike Barber, who is the son of Bob (youngest sibling of the Barber brothers) and Judy Barber, sent the following statement from the family to the New London Press Star:
“Last week we were notified by the U.S. Navy that they identified the remains of Randolph, Malcolm and LeRoy Barber, the New London brothers who were tragically killed together on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor.
“While we are relieved that the brothers’ remains will be buried together, it is a sad reminder of a very dark day in the family’s history, so this news is bittersweet.
“At this time, we look forward to receiving additional information from the U.S. Navy in the coming months related to determining their final resting place.
“We are forever grateful to the U.S. Navy for working tirelessly to provide closure to our family, and we appreciate the outpouring of support from people near and far who have followed the Barber brothers’ story.”