The remains of a teenager from Arkansas, who lost his life on a battleship during the Pearl Harbor attack, are finally coming home nearly 85 years posthumously.
The Navy has plans to honor Firefighter 3rd Class Loyle Rooker with a full military burial on May 30 at New Bethel Cemetery in Plainview, Arkansas—his hometown from where he enlisted in June 1941. Rear Admiral Michael Van Putz, who serves as the Deputy Commander of the Submarine Force, will lead the ceremony.
On May 29, 2024, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirmed Rooker’s identity through forensic techniques that weren’t available back then. His remains had been interred in an “unknown” grave until recent investigators decided to revisit the case.
At just 17 years old, Rooker perished aboard the USS West Virginia during the unexpected Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Initially, his remains were deemed “unretrievable” and buried alongside many others in the National Memorial Cemetery, listed as unknown. After decades, there was some progress; salvage crews recovered around 70 bodies, yet many remained unidentified until authorities exhumed 35 coffins in 2017.
He was awarded several medals posthumously, like the Purple Heart and the World War II Victory Medal. He is survived by two nephews—Donald Bradford Henderson and John Rooker—and a niece, Becky Downen Rensing. For the burial, he will be laid to rest alongside his parents: George F. Luker, a World War I veteran, and his mother, Nettie Estelle Luker.
Rooker was one of 106 crew members who died on the USS West Virginia during that harrowing day. Amid the chaotic attack, other sailors counter-flooded compartments to prevent the ship from capsizing, and it eventually sank into the shallow harbor. Remarkably, the crew managed to repair the vessel, returning it to service by 1944.
Rescuers had heard faint banging sounds from trapped sailors, who were stuck on top of live ammunition, but there was no way to communicate with them. Interestingly, three survivors remained in a sealed area until December 23 and left behind a calendar marked with 16 days in red pencil.
