PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Pentagon says the remains of a Portland man and two other sailors who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified and will be returned to their families.

The three were among 429 who died on December 7, 1941, when the USS Oklahoma sank.

They had been listed as unknowns in a Honolulu cemetery.

FILE 1941/AP

In this U.S. Navy photo, a small boat rescues a USS West Virginia crew member from the water after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The Pentagon identified the three Thursday as Ensign Eldon Wyman of Portland, Ensign Irvin A.R. Thompson of Hudson County, New Jersey, and Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence Boxrucker of Dorchester, Wisconsin.

The Pentagon announcement said scientists used such tools as mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in identifying the three, who were in a casket believed to hold the remains of at least 28 more men.