World War II sailor identified, remains to return to Tallahassee family

February 15, 2019

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) -- 77 years after her brother died during Pearl Harbor, Emily Golz still envisions him.

"I don't think anybody knew that, but he carried it with him all the time, so I imagined him playing the harmonica," Golz said.

Golz remembers her brother Earl, saying, "He was a very lively person, he was an action person. The more trouble he did, the more trouble he got into."

The death of her brother was devastating, but Golz always remained hopeful that they would one day find him.

"You gain an amount of patience to say they'll tell me when they see it," she said.

Earl's remains were recovered in 2012, along with 400 other sailors who were buried at sea.

Earl's niece, Sandy DeLopez said, "It was horrific and there was no chance for him to survive, he was in the wrong part of the ship at the wrong time."

But even in tragedy, the duo remained determined to not leave Earl behind.

DeLopez said, "The military makes really strong efforts to bring people home so I'd say don't give up. Don't give up."

After years of waiting, those DNA samples finally hit a match in September.

DeLopez mimicked the life-changing news she received in a single phone call, "'Hello this is the Navy calling.' So we just found a nice little quiet corner in Costco and for about 30 minutes he described to us what had happened and that he was confirming to us at that time, that this was official."

And with that confirmation, the Golz women are now ready to move forward.

"So after 77 years it's finally come to a conclusion. And "we're ready, we've been ready for a longtime haven't we?"

Earl's remains will be returned to Tallahassee on March 6, and buried at Tallahassee National Cemetery next to Emily's husband on March 8.