Moore County sailor killed at Pearl Harbor ID’d 84 years later as family gains closure

By Ryan Bisesi and Grace Holland

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    MOORE COUNTY, North Carolina (WRAL) — The only remaining sibling of a Vass man who died at Pearl Harbor struggles to remember her big brother from their interactions as children.

Mary Frye McCrimmon, the youngest of 10 children, does recall Neil Frye being caring enough to build a sled for her. One year, Neil got her a tricycle.

“My sister Judy, she used to tell me he could build or make anything,” Mary said.

Neil was born in 1921 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1940. Mary wasn’t born until 1937, so their interactions were limited.

Even though most of the details around Neil Frye’s life are forgotten, and many who knew him have died, his story is now resurfacing thanks to modern DNA testing. It’s only now, decades after his passing, that Frye is getting more recognition and a secure legacy.

It’s been 84 years since Frye died in the Pearl Harbor bombing. He served aboard the USS West Virginia when it was bombed by Japanese aircraft. Frye was just 20 years old and one of 106 crewmen to die on December 7, 1941.

On Thursday, he’ll get the remembrance he deserves.

Neil Frye will be buried with full military honors at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery in Spring Lake on Thursday. There will also be a service for him at Fryes Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Vass.

In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exhumed 35 caskets containing remains from the ship. Frye’s remains were uncovered in that exercise, but those remains weren’t identified until September when scientists determined his was one of the bodies at a DPAA laboratory in Hawaii.

“I had just turned four,” Mary said. “They let us all know about Neil. My mother loved us all. But by him leaving so young, I think that’s what made it hard.”

Mary, who now lives on the same property where she grew up in Vass, knows the uniting power of family. Last Friday, she and her daughter, Denise McCrimmon, sat in front of a lineup of family members who passed away long ago.

Mary Frye said she commonly says hello to the photos in her day-to-day routine, addressing each person by name. She believes her brother, who would have turned 104 in March, would like that.

“I have pictures of all these people,” Denise said. “I go through and say, ‘hey Neil, hey mom.’”

Some of the family went to Raleigh-Durham International Airport as the remains arrived by flight from Hawaii. Navy personnel were on hand to give the arrival the proper respect.

Mary said researchers told her Neil’s body was mostly intact with no broken bones.

“Maybe one blow hit him,” she said. “Whatever hit him, he was killed instantly. He didn’t have any bones broken or anything.”

For his surviving family, confirmation led to closure and the relief that a long process was worth it for a man who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Mary Frye and other family members traveled to Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, Georgia and Virginia to work with DPAA and confirm her brother’s identity. It was a process that started back in 2014, according to the family.

DPAA scientists looked into anthropological and dental analysis. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA analysis, according to a DPAA release.

“When we got the call, we were very excited,” Denise said. “There were times when we thought we were never going to get the call, they’re not going to find our person.”

Russell, another brother in the Navy, was on the USS Oklahoma and others in the family served in the military. Neil did not marry or have children, but his service came at a necessary time when conflicts were persistent during World War II.

Neil Frye’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. A rosette will be placed next to his name.

The discovery won’t bring him back, but now that he’s accounted for, it brings dignity to his life and peace of mind for his family.

“He gave his life for us,” Denise said.

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