MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. (AP) — Nearly eight decades after he was killed in the attack at Pearl Harbor that launched the U.S. into World War II, a Missouri man has been laid to rest next to his parents.
KYTV-TV reports that the remains of Navy Seaman 1st Class Orval Austin Tranbarger of Mountain View were buried Wednesday. The TV station said people lined highways and streets from Willow Springs to the cemetery in Mountain View to pay their respects.
It wasn’t until September that DNA testing confirmed the remains were his.
Relatives, veterans and strangers attended his funeral service in the southwestern Missouri town.
“On the way here I thought, ‘Well Orval, you finally are welcomed home,’” his brother, Burl Tranbarger, said.
Burl Tranbarger, who was 2 when his brother died, accepted the American flag.
“Today has got me convinced that people do honor the fallen military. They honor our nation,” he said.