Teen Pearl Harbor Sailor Identified By DNA To Be Buried In Arkansas
Royle Bradford Luker, a 17-year-old sailor killed at Pearl Harbor in 1941, was identified by DNA and will be buried with military honors in Plainview, Arkansas, on May 30, 2026.[1]
Luker served as a Fireman Third Class aboard the battleship USS West Virginia when the attack struck Pearl Harbor.[1] His remains were interred for decades as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.[1] The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency formally accounted for Luker on May 29, 2024 after modern forensic and DNA testing on exhumed caskets, and his graveside service is set for May 30, 2026 in Plainview.[1]
He was killed during the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while assigned to the USS West Virginia.[1] For decades his identity remained unknown until exhumations and DNA analysis allowed investigators to match remains to Luker and notify surviving family members.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- Royle Bradford Luker, a 17-year-old Fireman Third Class on USS West Virginia, was killed in the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.
- His remains were unidentified for decades and buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
- The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency officially accounted for Luker on May 29, 2024 after modern forensic and DNA testing of exhumed caskets.
- Luker will be buried with full military honors in Plainview, Arkansas, on May 30, 2026 alongside his parents.
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