KEMPTON, Ind. — Decades after making the ultimate sacrifice aboard the USS West Virginia (BB 48) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Fireman 1st Class Fred Hunter Boyer is finally returning home to Indiana for full military honors.
Boyer, a native of Kempton born on October 21, 1918, will be buried on Wednesday, September 30, at 1:00 p.m. at Kempton Cemetery on South County Road 1125 West.
Boyer enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Indianapolis on September 11, 1940, and was assigned to the USS West Virginia in November 1940. He was promoted to Fireman 1st Class on November 1, 1941, standing engineering and power plant watches aboard the battleship. Just over a month later, on December 7, 1941, the 23-year-old sailor was killed during the surprise Japanese air raid on Battleship Row. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, and World War II Victory Medal.
Resolving History Through Forensic Science
During the Pearl Harbor attack, the USS West Virginia was hit by at least seven torpedoes and two converted armor-piercing bombs, causing the vessel to sink to the harbor bottom and claiming the lives of 105 total crew members.
Following the attack and subsequent salvage operations, unidentified remains were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Hawaii as “Unknowns”.
Beginning in June 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) disinterred 35 Unknowns associated with the USS West Virginia to begin formal identification efforts. Utilizing advanced forensic anthropology, odontology analysis, and mitochondrial DNA testing—compared against reference samples collected from surviving family members—DPAA scientists at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Offutt Air Force Base successfully identified Boyer’s remains.
Fulfilling the Promise
The Navy Casualty Office coordinates and fully funds the transportation, funeral, and burial expenses for identified service members, fulfilling the military’s pledge to never leave a fallen shipmate behind.
Boyer’s living relatives, who currently reside in Fort Wayne, Indiana, will attend the funeral service as he is laid to rest alongside family in his hometown.
