File:Military Funeral Honors with Funeral Escort are Conducted for U.S. Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class David Walker at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, September 5, 2024 - 24.jpg

English: Sailors from the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard and the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class David Walker in Section 62 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Sept. 5, 2024.

From a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) press release:

On Dec. 7, 1941, Walker was assigned to the battleship USS California, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS California sustained multiple torpedo and bomb hits, which caused it catch fire and slowly flood. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 103 crewmen, including Walker.

From December 1941 to April 1942, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. In addition to the 42 casualties from the USS California initially identified after the attack, the laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 39 men from the USS California at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified the remains of the unresolved crew members, including Walker, as non-recoverable.

In 2018, DPAA personnel exhumed the 25 USS California Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Walker’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological and dental analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Walker was official accounted for on Nov. 27, 2023. Walker’s cousin, Cheryle Stone, received the U.S. flag from his service.

(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)