[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 140 (Tuesday, September 10, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E880-E881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF DAVID WALKER

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. ROBERT C. ``Bobby'' SCOTT

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 10, 2024

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life 
and sacrifice of Mess Attendant 3rd Class David Walker.
  David Walker was raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, where he attended 
I.C. Norcom High School, one of the first Black high schools in 
Virginia. Before graduating, he decided to leave school to join the 
Navy. At the time, the Navy offered few jobs to African Americans, so 
Mr. Walker enlisted as a mess attendant.
  On December 7, 1941, David Walker was serving aboard the USS 
California at Naval Station Pearl Harbor when the base was attacked by 
Japanese forces. The USS California sank during the attack, and Mr. 
Walker sadly perished along with 102 other sailors aboard the ship. The 
remains of many fallen sailors were identified in the years following

[[Page E881]]

the attack, but Mr. Walker's remains were not accounted for at the time 
and were reburied in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in 
Honolulu, Hawaii.
  With advances in identification technology, the Defense POW/MIA 
Accounting Agency decided in 2018 to exhume unknown remains from the 
national cemetery in hopes of identifying unaccounted sailors. After 
nearly 82 years following the attack on Pearl Harbor, David Walker's 
remains were identified earlier this year and were interred in 
Arlington National Cemetery on September 5, 2024.
  Honoring those who have fallen in the line of duty is one of the most 
sacred responsibilities of our government. Many like David Walker still 
wait to be identified decades after sacrificing their lives for their 
country. I want to thank the staff at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting 
Agency for their work towards finding David Walker and all other 
servicemembers still lost. We must continue to support this work, so 
these fallen Americans may receive the recognition they deserve.

                          ____________________