Arcola pays tribute as lost sailor finally laid to rest [Video]

ARCOLA, Ill. (WCIA) — Hundreds of American flags were waving in the wind in Arcola for a very special ceremony on Saturday.

Charles D. Brown enlisted in the Navy in 1938. He was just 19 years years old when he started working aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia. Brown was among the 2,400 men that were killed during the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The U.S. Navy was unable to identify him, so he was buried in Hawaii as an unknown. In 2022, a Department of Defense search resulted in a DNA match: Charles Darling Brown of Arcola, Illinois.

READ MORE: Arcola sailor returns home 80 years after death at Pearl Harbor

He was one of many identified.

“It’s just amazing that the effort was made to get that closure. From identifying the remains, to getting them shipped here for the service — just for one person that died decades ago, you know, at a young age — it’s …