LUKE; VERNON T.
UNITED STATES NAVY
WORLD WAR II
CA
Individual Type Accounted For
Rank MM1
Service Number 3851099
Location Hawaiian Islands
Date of Loss 12/07/1941
Unit USS Oklahoma; UNITED STATES NAVY RESERVE
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001Ecc4jEAB

On December 17, 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Machinist’s Mate First Class Vernon Thomas Luke, missing from World War II.

Machinist’s Mate First Class Luke, who entered the U.S. Navy from California, served on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) and was aboard the ship during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. He was killed in the attack, and while his remains were recovered from the ship, they could not be identified following the incident. He was initially buried as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2015, advances in forensic techniques prompted the reexamination and eventual identification of MM1 Luke’s remains.

Machinist’s Mate First Class Luke is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/687327/uss-oklahoma-sailor-from-world-war-ii-accounted-for-luke/

Press Release | March 2, 2016

USS Oklahoma Sailor From World War II Accounted For (Luke)

The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman from World War II have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Vernon T. Luke, 43, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, will be buried March 9 in Honolulu, Hawaii. On Dec. 7, 1941, Luke was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma suffered multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in 429 casualties, including Luke.

From December 1941 to June 1944, 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. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as “non-recoverable,” including Luke.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of unknowns associated with the USS Oklahoma. On June 15, 2015, DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains from the NMCP for analysis.

To identify Luke’s remains, scientists from DPAA used circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis, to include dental comparisons, which matched Luke’s records.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to

account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit

the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil or call (703) 699-1420.