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The Department of Defense says Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence A. Boxrucker will be buried Saturday in Dorchester — nearly 77 years after he died when his battleship sunk in the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
“I am thrilled to death. It is just kind of a relief to know he is home,” said 82-year-old Agnes Boxrucker of Owen, who was married to one of the sailor’s late cousins. “When the veterans service officer called me, I just went ecstatic. Wow.”
Hilda Boxrucker, 80, of Dorchester in northern Wisconsin, is married to the sailor’s twin brother Louis, now 90 years old and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“He is happy he is coming home,” Hilda Boxrucker said. “I am, too. It is too bad I never did know him. We knew they were working at this for the last couple of years. We just never expected anything like this.”
The Boxrucker twins joined the Navy together in 1940 because they couldn’t find work, she said. Louis was on a ship in Bermuda when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
“His parents waited quite awhile before they actually found out (Lawrence) was dead,” the sister-in-law said. “They would keep wondering. It had to be sad.”
Lawrence Boxrucker was on the battleship USS Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Pentagon said. The ship was struck by torpedoes and capsized, killing 429 sailors and Marines.
Most were buried as unknowns, but new technology allowed the military to identify Boxrucker and two others.
They are Ensign Irvin A.R. Thompson of Hudson County, N.J., and Ensign Eldon P. Wyman, of Portland, Ore. All three will be buried with full military honors.
Louis Boxrucker stayed in the Navy for six years, came back to Wisconsin, got married and operated a dairy farm near Dorchester for 30 years, his wife said.
