Source: United States Navy
Cheryle Stone did not even know she had a second cousin—much less one who had been killed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941—until the U.S. Navy contacted her in 2021, asking for a DNA sample. The sample matched, and Stone was suddenly connected to history.
A Black sailor serving in a segregated Navy, 19-year-old David Walker was a mess attendant 3rd class aboard the battleship USS California when the Japanese attacked. Two torpedoes breached the ship’s hull, forcing it to tilt as it filled with water. Enemy bombs then began exploding on the deck. When the attack ended, 102 crewmembers had been killed, including Walker.
In the weeks and months after the attack, the remains of 42 unidentified sailors and Marines were removed from the ship and buried at the Halawa Naval Cemetery in Hawaii. In 2018, the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the unknown graves related to the California to identify them through DNA testing. That was how Stone learned she had a cousin.
Stone’s mother died when she was five, and she and her sister were sent to live with a member of their church; her brother went to another family. Stone knew almost nothing about her mother’s family. “The only thing I heard was that we had a family member who died,” Stone said. “No one said ‘died at Pearl Harbor.’”
Stone initially did not respond to letters and calls from the Navy. It was not until her nephew read one of the letters that he convinced her to respond. In January 2024, two Navy chiefs visited Stone and showed her materials relating to her cousin, including a letter from her aunt dated Dec. 29, 1941, asking the Navy about her son. There were no response letters. “I could feel her pain,” said Stone.
Stone chose to have her cousin’s remains buried at Arlington National Cemetery. “He deserved the honor of being at Arlington,” she said. “He put in his service just like the others who are buried here.”
On Sept. 6, 2024, Stone and about 20 family members and friends gathered in Section 62 for Seaman Walker’s funeral. U.S. Navy Chaplain (Lt.) Jennifer Miles, who oversaw the ceremony, told the group, “Today, Mess Attendant 3rd Class David Walker takes his rightful place here on these hallowed grounds.”
Rear Adm. Mike Brown, with the office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare, presented the tightly folded flag to Stone. After the service, Brown spoke about the importance of remembering Seaman Walker. “It’s meaningful for his family to see him get the recognition he deserves as a sailor in the U.S. Navy,” Brown said, “and I think it’s important, as a Navy, to own our past and recognize African American sailors who served in 1941 in very specific jobs in our segregated service. We’ve come a long way.”
Stone concluded the service for her cousin by reading from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and leading everyone in a prayer. When she finished, she pronounced, “Aunt Edna, your baby boy is home and he’s being laid to rest.”