Emotional military burial for North Carolina sailor killed at Pearl Harbor more than 83 years ago

HOKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A decorated North Carolinian, who was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, was laid to rest with full military honors.

The service was held on April 3--which is his birthday.

Mess Attendant 3rd Class Neil Frye was 20 years old when he died and was serving in a segregated branch.

Frye worked in the Messman Branch, which was a racially segregated part of the U.S. Navy that was responsible for feeding and serving officers. The branch was almost exclusively African American.

"He enlisted in the Navy in a time where, you know, Black men were considered second-class. But he fought for this country with the same values," said his niece Carol Frye-Davis.

Frye-Davis says her uncle was known as a hero growing up in a family with deep military roots.

"He was killed in 1941, so none of us were born at that time. But his memory lived on through his siblings," she said.

Frye-Davis says a military photo is the only known picture they have.

Frye was serving our country at the same time as his brother, Russell, who was also in the Navy and stationed in Rhode Island.

Their mother wrote the Navy less than two months before the Pearl Harbor attack and requested that Frye be transferred to serve alongside his sibling.

The Navy says Frye didn't send a request before the USS West Virginia was hit by two bombs and at least seven torpedoes.

The ship sank to the bottom of the harbor. More than a hundred service members were killed.

The family finally received positive identification on his remains in September of 2024 through DNA testing.

"It's been an emotional, but a beautiful experience," said Frye-Davis. "He had his life ahead of him and he was cut down at 20, but he did it for this country."

Frye has received several awards, including the Purple Heart Medal.