17-year-old Pearl Harbor sailor’s remains return home after 80 years

The remains of a 17-year-old sailor killed during the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor are returning home more than 84 years later for a proper burial.

Royle Bradford Luker will be laid to rest with full military honors in Plainview, Arkansas, on May 30, according to his obituary. He will be buried alongside his parents, including his father, who was a World War I veteran.

“As a Fireman Third Class in the United States Navy aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia, he gave his all and was killed in the line of duty during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941,” his obituary from Cornwell Funeral Homes stated.

His burial was arranged after modern forensic testing and DNA analysis comparing his remains with DNA from living relatives confirmed his identity decades later, the obituary said.

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For his service and sacrifice, Luker reportedly received numerous military honors, including the Purple Heart, awarded to those wounded or killed in combat, and the Navy Presidential Unit Citation, which recognizes extraordinary heroism by military units under enemy fire.

Other honors and awards listed in his obituary include the Gold Star Veteran designation, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Navy Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal.

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Luker was among the 106 crewmen killed when the USS West Virginia was struck during Japan’s surprise assault on Pearl Harbor.

For decades, he was listed as killed in action, while his remains were  unidentified and interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. His name was also memorialized on the Courts of the Missing there.

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Nearly 82 years after his death, Luker was officially accounted for on May 29, 2024, after authorities exhumed numerous caskets for modern forensic and DNA testing, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

The teen sailor was the son of George F. Luker, a WWI veteran, and Nettie Estelle David Luker, according to his obituary.

Family members, some of whom lived in Arkansas during his deployment, reportedly said Luker was remembered “with pride and love.”

According to the obituary, he is survived by two nephews, Donald Bradford Henderson and John Luker, as well as a niece, Becky Downen Lensing.

“More than 80 years later, DNA from Royle Luker and a family’s willingness to share their DNA bridged the gap between loss and knowing,” his obituary stated. “He will now be returned home and laid to rest.”

According to the U.S. Navy, the USS West Virginia was moored at Ford Island in 1941 when Japanese aircraft launched torpedoes against the battleship. The ship suffered multiple torpedo hits and eventually sank to the shallow harbor floor.