On September 14, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Electrician's Mate Third Class George Merton, missing from World War II.

Electrician's Mate Gooch joined the U.S. Navy from Missouri. He was stationed aboard the USS Oklahoma at the time of the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and he was killed in the incident. His remains were recovered from the ship following the incident; however, they could not be identified at the time and were buried as unknown remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2015, the DPAA receive authorization to exhume and reexamine unidentified remains associated with the Oklahoma. EM3c Gooch's remains were disinterred and eventually identified as part of this effort.

Electrician's Mate Gooch is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

If you are a family member of this service member, you may contact your casualty office representative to learn more about your service member.