David Walker from Norfolk, Va., was 19 years old when Japanese torpedoes sunk his battleship at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Walker was presumed dead following the attack on the Hawaii naval base, but his body was never recovered — that is, until recently.

Officials announced on Thursday that Walker's remains were finally accounted for, thanks to scientists at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) whose mission is to recover and return missing service members from past conflicts.

In a news release, the DPAA said that in 2018, military officials exhumed the unidentified remains of 25 people who were from Walker's battleship, the USS California, and buried in Honolulu. According to the agency, scientists used anthropological, dental and DNA analysis to determine that Walker was among those remains.

The DPAA said Walker will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Sept. 5. A rosette will also be placed next to his name at the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to indicate that he has been accounted for.

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