Rand Paul: “Navy Fireman 2nd Class Martin Daymond Young, born on May 11, 1920, was one of nine children who grew up in a busy…”

“Navy Fireman 2nd Class Martin Daymond Young, born on May 11, 1920, was one of nine children who grew up in a busy household in the tiny Dukes community in Hancock County, KY. His family said their goodbyes when he enlisted in the Navy in the summer of 1940 and he headed to the South Pacific--to Pearl Harbor. Sadly, Daymond Young was one of the 429 crew members who perished aboard the USS Oklahoma on December 7, 1941. He was 21 years old. The tragedy of his death was even more unbearable for his family because he was buried in a mass grave among scores of unidentified shipmates. His siblings and particularly his twin sister, Daisy, did all they could to keep his memory alive for their children, who remember a photo of Daymond in his Navy uniform that was always proudly displayed in her home. All of his nieces and nephews looked up to him even though most had never met him. Beginning in 2015, new dental, anthropologic and mitochondrial DNA analyses were employed to identify those who had fallen at Pearl Harbor, eventually certifying Daymond's remains in 2019. His family members wanted to bury him on what would have been his 100th birthday, May 11, 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic made travel and a public ceremony impossible. So, finally, on May 15, 2021, the remains of Daymond Young returned to beautiful Hancock County, KY, where he was buried alongside his ever-devoted sister Daisy.…”