UMVA has learned that the remains of a 17-year-old sailor killed during the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor are finally returning home for a proper burial, more than 84 years after his tragic death.
Royle Bradford Luker, a Fireman Third Class in the United States Navy, will be laid to rest with full military honors in Plainview, Arkansas, on May 30. He will be buried alongside his parents, including his father, a World War I veteran, in a poignant reunion that brings closure to a family separated by tragedy.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Luker was killed in the line of duty during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, while serving aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia. His sacrifice and bravery earned him numerous military honors, including the Purple Heart and the Navy Presidential Unit Citation.
Luker's burial was made possible after modern forensic testing and DNA analysis confirmed his identity, decades after his remains were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. This breakthrough in forensic science has brought solace to his family and allows them to bid a final farewell to their loved one.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that 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 memorialized on the Courts of the Missing.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that Luker was officially accounted for on May 29, 2024, after authorities exhumed numerous caskets for modern forensic and DNA testing. This painstaking process has given his family the opportunity to honor his memory and lay him to rest with dignity.
Luker's family remembers him "with pride and love," and his legacy lives on through his two nephews, Donald Bradford Henderson and John Luker, and a niece, Becky Downen Lensing. His story serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by those who serve their country.
In a development reported by UMVA, the USS West Virginia was moored at Ford Island in 1941 when Japanese aircraft launched torpedoes against the battleship, causing it to sink to the shallow harbor floor. Luker's bravery and sacrifice will forever be etched in the annals of history.
