What:

Neal Kenneth Todd Post Office Renaming Event.

Who:

Speakers:
Eric Brademan, Manager, Post Office Operations,  MN-ND District, USPS
Pete Stauber, U.S. Representative MN District 8th District
Todd Family Members

When:

Monday, June 24th at 12:30pm

Where:

Akeley Post Office
10 Broadway Street West
Akeley, MN, 56433

Background:

H.R.4899 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10 Broadway Street West, in Akeley, Minnesota, as the "Neal Kenneth Todd Post Office."

Neal Kenneth Todd enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and served on the USS Oklahoma as a Navy Fireman First Class. During his deployment at Pearl Harbor, the ship was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Neal's brother, Wesley Todd, was also aboard the USS Oklahoma at the time. Wesley managed to escape the sinking vessel, but Neal's whereabouts remained unknown to the Todd family for several months. Eventually, Neal was declared deceased and posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

Neal is commemorated at the USS Oklahoma Memorial and the Honolulu Memorial of the Courts of the Missing. After the attack, the remains of Neal and other service members were recovered, but they weren't identified until a 2015 initiative by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

On February 11, 2021, Neal's remains were finally identified and matched with his family. He was reunited with his brother, Orville Staffenhagen, and sister, Karyn Stiffler, in Akeley, Minnesota, on July 10, 2021. Neal received a burial with full military honors next to his younger brother, Alfred Staffenhagen, Jr., who also served in the U.S. Navy, and their mother, Irena.

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