UNDATED (WTAQ) – A Green Bay sailor killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor will finally be laid to rest nearly 75 years after he was killed.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced that Petty Officer 1st Class Vernon T. Luke will be buried on Wednesday March 9 in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Luke was serving on the battleship USS Oklahoma when Japanese forces made a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. That sparked U.S. involvement in World War II.
Luke had been listed among the casualties for decades. But recent advances in DNA analysis, along with pressure from family members, are expected to help identify the remains of about 90 percent of the 429 people killed on the Oklahoma.
Luke, who had also served in World War I, was 43 when he was killed.
