“But it happened so early, he didn’t get away,” his nephew Thomas Hannon said.
It was the surprise Imperial Japanese Navy attack against the U.S. Pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor that summoned the entire nation to war.
RELATED: 75 years later, a Pearl Harbor casualty is laid to rest at home
Welch served on the USS Oklahoma. The ship was struck by five torpedoes and capsized, killing 429 sailors and Marines. More than 2,400 Americans died that day, most aboard the USS Arizona, which lost more than 1,170 crew members.
The Oklahoma recorded the second worst loss of life.
Seaman James Richard Ward was also from Springfield and served on the Oklahoma. During the attack, Ward was trapped in darkened turret with other sailors and he had the only flashlight. He shined it onto a hatchway to allow sailors to escape before the ship capsized. His sacrifice earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Welch’s other nephew, Tony Hannon, called the attack an unfortunate disaster.
“I still have the feeling of the loss of him, but I guess it means an awful lot just to have him back home,” he said.
Tony Hannon and Thomas Hannon were born after their uncle died at Pearl Harbor, but the Springfield brothers have a renewed bond with the uncle they never knew.
The sailor’s remains were finally identified this year and buried in Springfield in October will full military honors.
The two brothers never thought they would see the homecoming of Welch, who lost his life one month after his 18th birthday.
“For me and for your family, and even the community at large, it’s kind of like one of our native sons is coming home 75 years later,” said Thomas Hannon, 70.
Welch’s remains lay unidentified in a cemetery in Hawaii with other unknown sailors from the sunken battleship. The Defense Department asked his sister, Ann Welch Ianni, who was 8 years old when her brother died, and other relatives to provide DNA samples more than a decade ago.
Then, she waited.
Until this summer.
That’s when the Navy told the family the fallen sailor would be coming home. He was identified by dental records.
“It’s sad, but it’s happy that we got him back,” said Ianni, 83, one of two surviving siblings. “Something back. It’s 75 years and no one has forgotten it.
“I can remember that Sunday morning when I came home from church and they were talking about (Pearl Harbor) then. But you didn’t know anything until the Navy came and announced he was dead.”
In recent years, the Defense Department has pushed to identify more unknown service members felled in battle. This year the Navy has organized homecomings for more than 20 Oklahoma sailors alone, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“I guess we always did hold out hope because we knew there were some efforts … actively trying to get it done,” Thomas Hannon said.
His late mother, Helen, always kept a picture of her brother on her desk.
“For years, Billy was always 17-years-old,” said Thomas Hannon, a retired accountant.
On the day of Welch’s funeral, hundreds of mourners packed the pews — including U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Navy rear admiral and dozens of family members who traveled across the county to be at St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Springfield.
“It’s the same church Billy was baptized and he was an altar boy,” Thomas Hannon said. “He came full circle.”
The day of the funeral, residents lined the streets of Springfield holding flags and standing in respect for a man most had never known, the family said. Welch was buried near his deceased parents with full military honors at Calvary Cemetery in Clark County.
“I couldn’t believe the outpouring from the community itself,” said Tony Hannon, 69 and a local real estate broker. “It was quite a touching day.”
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