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The stays of a 17-year-old sailor killed through the World Conflict II attack on Pearl Harbor are returning dwelling greater than 84 years later for a correct burial.
Royle Bradford Luker will probably be laid to relaxation with full navy honors in Plainview, Arkansas, on Could 30, in accordance with his obituary. He will probably be buried alongside his dad and mom, together with his father, who was a World Conflict I veteran.
“As a Fireman Third Class in the US Navy aboard the united statesS. West Virginia, he gave his all and was killed within the line of responsibility through the assault on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941,” his obituary from Cornwell Funeral Properties said.
His burial was organized after fashionable forensic testing and DNA evaluation evaluating his stays with DNA from dwelling family confirmed his id many years later, the obituary mentioned.
PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY MARKS 84 YEARS SINCE ATTACK
Royle B Luker was 17 years previous when he was killed through the shock Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. (Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company)
For his service and sacrifice, Luker reportedly obtained quite a few navy honors, together with the Purple Coronary heart, awarded to these wounded or killed in fight, and the Navy Presidential Unit Quotation, which acknowledges extraordinary heroism by navy models beneath enemy hearth.
Different honors and awards listed in his obituary embrace the Gold Star Veteran designation, Fight Motion Ribbon, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Navy Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Marketing campaign Medal, American Marketing campaign Medal and World Conflict II Victory Medal.

Sailors stand amid wreckage watching the united statesShaw explode through the Japanese assault on Naval Air Station Ford Island at Pearl Harbor. (Fox Images/Getty Pictures)
Luker was among the many 106 crewmen killed when the united statesWest Virginia was struck throughout Japan’s surprise assault on Pearl Harbor.
For many years, he was listed as killed in motion, whereas his stays have been unidentified and interred as unknowns on the Nationwide Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in accordance with the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company. His title was additionally memorialized on the Courts of the Lacking there.
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Almost 82 years after his dying, Luker was formally accounted for on Could 29, 2024, after authorities exhumed quite a few caskets for contemporary forensic and DNA testing, in accordance with the Protection POW/MIA Accounting Company.

The usArizona Memorial is seen in Honolulu earlier than the 84th anniversary of the assault on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 2025. (Mengshin Lin/AP)
The teenager sailor was the son of George F. Luker, a WWI veteran, and Nettie Estelle David Luker, in accordance with his obituary.
Members of the family, a few of whom lived in Arkansas throughout his deployment, reportedly mentioned Luker was remembered “with pleasure and love.”
In accordance with the obituary, he’s survived by two nephews, Donald Bradford Henderson and John Luker, in addition to a niece, Becky Downen Lensing.
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“Greater than 80 years later, DNA from Royle Luker and a household’s willingness to share their DNA bridged the hole between loss and understanding,” his obituary said. “He’ll now be returned dwelling and laid to relaxation.”
In accordance with the U.S. Navy, the united statesWest Virginia was moored at Ford Island in 1941 when Japanese plane launched torpedoes towards the battleship. The ship suffered a number of torpedo hits and finally sank to the shallow harbor ground.
