- October 3, 2021
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NEW LONDON – Three New London brothers killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, will finally be laid to rest alongside their family Saturday.
The remains of 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 identified in June, just a few months shy of the 80th anniversary of the bombing.
A funeral procession will leave Cline & Hanson Funeral Home, 209 W. Cook St., at 10 a.m. Saturday, then head to Most Precious Blood Cemetery, N3650 Bean City Road, where a graveside service with full military honors will begin at 11 a.m. Both the procession and service are open to the public, and residents are encouraged to line the streets during the procession and wave American flags, according to a release from Cline & Hanson Funeral Home.
Cline & Hanson funeral director and owner Kent Rusch said the surviving family of the Barber brothers “wanted them to be buried next to their folks here in New London.
The brothers’ remains arrived at Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport last week, one by one — on Aug. 31, Sept. 1 and Sept. 2 — Rusch said.
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Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday that all flags will be flown at half-staff Saturday in honor of the three brothers. Flags will also be flown at half-staff in memory of those that died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but officials stated the governor felt it was necessary to specifically honor the return of the Barber brothers.
The Barber brothers died while stationed aboard the USS Oklahoma at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when Japanese aircraft attacked the naval base. Including the brothers, 429 crewmen from the ship died, part of the total 2,403 people killed in the attack.
The Navy had made an exception to its rule preventing more than one brother to be serving on the same ship because it was peacetime. However, the Barber brothers’ father had reportedly written to the Navy two weeks before the Pearl Harbor attack, asking that the brothers be transferred to separate ships in case of a disaster.
The USS Barber, named after the three brothers, was commissioned in 1943, and remained in military service until 1946.
