Remains of Virginia sailor killed in Pearl Harbor attack identified : NPR

David Walker, a sailor killed within the WWII assault on Pearl Harbor, is memorialized on the Nationwide Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. Quickly, a rosette will likely be positioned subsequent to his identify to point that he has been accounted for.

The Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company


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The Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company


David Walker, a sailor killed within the WWII assault on Pearl Harbor, is memorialized on the Nationwide Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. Quickly, a rosette will likely be positioned subsequent to his identify to point that he has been accounted for.

The Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company

David Walker from Norfolk, Va., was 19 years outdated when Japanese torpedoes sunk his battleship at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Walker was presumed lifeless following the assault on the Hawaii naval base, however his physique was by no means recovered — that’s, till not too long ago.

Officers announced on Thursday that Walker’s stays had been lastly accounted for, due to scientists on the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company (DPAA) whose mission is to recuperate and return lacking service members from previous conflicts.

In a information launch, the DPAA mentioned that in 2018, navy officers exhumed the unidentified stays of 25 individuals who had been from Walker’s battleship, the united statesCalifornia, and buried in Honolulu. In line with the company, scientists used anthropological, dental and DNA evaluation to find out that Walker was amongst these stays.

The DPAA mentioned Walker will likely be buried in Arlington Nationwide Cemetery in Virginia on Sept. 5. A rosette can even be positioned subsequent to his identify on the Courts of the Lacking on the Nationwide Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to point that he has been accounted for.

On Dec. 7, 1941, two torpedoes pierced the port aspect of the united statesCalifornia, which was moored at Ford Island in Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The assault resulted within the deaths of 103 crew members, together with Walker. The ship slowly sank over the following three days, in keeping with the DPAA.

In complete, about 2,300 service members and 68 civilians had been killed in Japan’s shock assault on Pearl Harbor, which later launched the U.S. into World Battle II. On the time, 960 sailors and marines had been reported lacking, in keeping with a New York Times article from 1942.

Lately, advances in DNA know-how have considerably helped determine the stays of lacking navy personnel. DNA testing was credited as a key methodology within the identification of the vast majority of the practically 400 service members who went lacking on the USS Oklahoma, one other battleship that sunk through the assault on Pearl Harbor.