Loren "Joe" was stationed in Hawaii on the Battleship Arizona when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. He was the first Van Buren County, Iowa, serviceman to lose his life in WW2. He was buried at sea, but he has a tombstone in Oak Lawn Cemetery in Keosauqua, Iowa, where his parents, Joseph and Iva Barker, are buried.

Excerpts from June ‏(Davis)‏ Wiley's story, "A Tale of Three Sisters", Pg. 17. ‏(Used by permission.)‏

"Joe was only a few years older than my sisters and me; we grew up with him more of a brother than an uncle. He was someone to be loved and to be feared. Many times I have been chased by him holding a rattlesnake. His hobby was catching rattlers, and he always had a homemade cage full o the ffearsome things. When you were riding a pony, he would make it buck. I am not sure he was mean - just a tease and kept us stirred up all he time. The night before he left for the Navy he took me for a ride in the rumbleseat of his old car, and I cherish that memory."

"We were in the midst of the Second World War. When the war was raging in Europe our teacher read the war news from the newspaper each morning. I paid scant attention - after all, why should I be interested in a war across the ocean? But that awful Sunday of December 7th, 1941, after dinner at our house with the Grandparents ‏[Joe and Iva Barker]‏, the radio was turned on for the news and we heard of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We knew that Joe was on the USS Arizona anchored at Pearl Harbor. What a horrible few days. No news of him. Always the hope that he had been on shore leave. Finally, the dreaded telegram, 'We regret to inform you ...' His marriage was revealed. Grampa ‏[Joe Barker]‏ took to his bed. There was shock and overwhelming sadness. How can I describe those horrible days? Finally, with no hope, a memorial service with the picture of my handsome uncle on the altar. He was only 20 years old."