Worthington, IN. -- An honor guard detail from Navy Operational Support Center Indianapolis paid tribute to a Hoosier Sailor on July 21 -- more than six decades after he was killed at Pearl Harbor and placed in a grave marked “unknown.”

Fireman 3rd Class Alfred Eugene Livingston served aboard USS Oklahoma (BB 37) and died the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes bombed the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The death toll topped 2,000, including 429 Sailors and Marines who died when the Oklahoma capsized. Livingston’s body was among hundreds recovered from the harbor in the weeks following the attack, and buried unidentified at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Oahu.

Recently identified through dental records and research, Livingston’s remains arrived in Indiana on July 19 under U.S. Navy escort from Hawaii, and were greeted by a Navy honor guard and his family. He was then transported to Worthington in preparation for a full military funeral.

“After 21 years in the Navy, this is one of my proudest moments,” said Aviation Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Scott Hill of London, Ky., who helped carry Livingston’s casket to the graveside service. “To be part of bringing this man home gives me a sense of pride, and helps me appreciate my own life and family.”

More than 500 people attended the funeral, including local veterans and members of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. Outside Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7117, a sign with Livingston’s name read, “Worthington’s Missing Son.”

Livingston’s relatives -- including surviving sister Louise Hobbs of Greenwood, Ind., several cousins, nieces and nephews -- expressed relief that he is finally buried alongside his parents and grandparents in the town’s cemetery.

“Honestly, we never thought this would happen,” said Linda City, one of Livingston’s nieces. “It’s a very happy ending.”

Earlier this year, Ray Emory – a World War II historian and Pearl Harbor survivor of USS Honolulu (CL 48) – worked with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii to confirm the remains of Grave No. 457 as those of Alfred Livingston. In 1949, the remains were exhumed and mistakenly labeled as a USS Arizona (BB 39) crewman.

Livingston is the fourth U.S. serviceman Emory has identified since he began researching Pearl Harbor deaths about five years ago.

“It was one of those situations where you feel you’ve gotten a hold of something you can’t let go of,” he said.

Last July, Emory contacted one of Livingtson’s nephews, Ken Livingston, of Indianapolis, who grew up hearing stories about his uncle. The nephew said he was shocked to hear that Livingston’s remains may have been identified. His father, Livington’s brother Raymond passed away in January, just three months before tests confirmed his uncle's identity.

“Anytime I mentioned it, he teared up,” Ken said. “I’m glad we have some closure.”

Worthington residents rallied around the family, also happy that the mystery of Livingston’s fate had been solved.

“For more than 65 years, Alfred’s body rested in Hawaii, unknown,” said the Rev. Bill Beckelheimer of Worthington First Baptist Church, which Livingston grew up attending. “Today his remains have come home to the town he knew and the streets he walked. This is the hero’s welcome he deserves.”

Master Chief Engineman George Harris III of Indianapolis has provided more than 200 funeral honors during his Navy career, and considers Livingston’s among the most moving.

“Each military funeral is important, but to bring home someone who served and was killed in the nation’s worst attack is incredible,” he said. “As I presented the flag to Alfred’s sister, Louise, I knew it meant a great deal to her to have him home after so many years.”