SHAWANO, Wis. (WFRV) – After more than eight decades, Pvt. Herbert McLaughlin has finally returned home.
The 31-year-old Shawano native was the first from the community to be killed in World War II. On December 7, 1941 — the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor — McLaughlin was stationed at Hickam Field in Hawaii as an aerial photographer. The night before, he broke his nose while playing volleyball with friends and was sent to the base hospital.
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The next morning, Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor and the surrounding military installations. A Navy destroyer docked near the hospital came under fire from a Japanese Zero. U.S. forces shot the plane down, but it crashed into the hospital, killing McLaughlin and others inside.
Without dog tags, McLaughlin’s remains went unidentified and were buried with other unknown servicemen in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the graves for modern DNA testing. Using a family DNA match that traced through the female line, officials confirmed McLaughlin’s identity in late 2024. A healed broken nose recorded in the forensic analysis helped verify the story his family had passed down for generations.
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His great-nephew, Dean Seher, says that call last October changed everything. “Herbert left Shawano 85 years ago, and no one alive knew him, and yet here they are to welcome him home. It’s a tribute to the community and a tribute to Herbert.”
On Saturday morning, McLaughlin’s final journey began at Swedberg Funeral Home in Shawano. An honor guard escorted the hearse through town to Woodlawn Cemetery, where veterans, local residents, and family members gathered to pay their respects. The service included full military honors — a 21-gun salute, taps, and the presentation of the American flag to his family.
McLaughlin’s Purple Heart will be donated to the Shawano VFW Post 2723, which bears his name. He also received the World War II Victory Medal and the American Defense Service Medal.
For his family, the day was not only about closure — it was about ensuring that McLaughlin’s sacrifice is remembered for generations to come.
