Fireman 1st Class Daniel Edward Reagan, age 20, a United States Navy Pearl Harbor Veteran was aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when it came under attack by Japanese aircraft. He was killed in the attack along with 428 other USS Oklahoma sailors.
Dan lived in Forester, Scott County, Arkansas and, at the age of 17, entered the United States Navy on 09-09-1938 at the Navy Recruiting Station in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was one of 14 Scott County "boys" that gave their life in service to this Country during World War II.
While his remains were recovered after the attack, they could not be individually identified at the time, and he was interred as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Agency began a reexamination of remains associated with the loss of the Oklahoma, and DPAA analysts were able to use advanced forensic techniques to identify Dan’s remains. On September 30, 2019, the DPAA identified the remains of Fireman 1st Class Dan Edward Reagan, who had been classified as missing since the date of the attack.
Dan was born in Haslam, Shelby County, Texas on January 18, 1921 to parents Houston M. Reagan, Sr. and Mattie "Bobbie" McGlathery Reagan. He was survived by his parents along with his brother, James Earl Reagan and his half-sister, Pauline Reagan Duden, all of whom now are deceased. He is survived by his half-brother, Houston M. Reagan, Jr. and his sister-in-law, Mary Reagan.
Dan’s half-brother, Houston, was only 5 weeks old at the time of Dan’s death. He related that Dan entered the Navy at the age of 17. The family remembered Dan as a kind and loving son and brother and his father, who never recovered from his loss, spoke of Dan often. Dan was quite mature for such a young age and was responsible for engineering watches and making minor repairs to the ship.
Dan was scheduled to be discharged 01-17-1942. Dan's plans of returning to Forester, Arkansas, of course, were never realized.
F1c Reagan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the WWII Victory Medal by the United States Navy.
He will be laid to his final resting place at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 1:00 pm. The U.S. Navy will render Military Honors at that time.
