The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency recently made an announcement that a Virginia man who lost his life during World War II has been officially accounted for.
David Walker, a 19-year-old sailor, served on the battleship USS California when it fell victim to a torpedo attack during the infamous assault on Pearl Harbor. Tragically, Walker was among the 103 crew members who lost their lives during the attack. The DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) confirmed this information. In the aftermath of the attack, the remains of the ship’s crew were recovered by dedicated U.S. Navy personnel and laid to rest in various cemeteries in Hawaii, including the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. However, it was not until 2018 that the remains of the 25 fallen soldiers, who were originally buried as “Unknowns,” were finally exhumed.
The DPAA conducted anthropological and dental analysis on the remains, while the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System performed mitochondrial DNA analysis.
Now that Walker’s identity has been confirmed, a rosette will be placed beside his name on the Walls of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The DPAA has announced that he will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in September.
Walker, who hailed from Norfolk, Virginia, has limited information available about his surviving relatives or the exact date he joined the U.S. Navy. However, as per a news clipping shared by the DPAA, Walker enlisted in the Navy approximately one year before his tragic demise. Another news clipping reveals that he made the decision to leave high school early in order to enlist. Edna Lee Ward, Walker’s mother, personally requested a local reporter to publish his photo in the newspaper to inform the community about his unfortunate death at Pearl Harbor.
