CM3c Floyd Theadore Nielsen

Floyd Theadore Nielsen was born July 24, 1918 in Utah, reportedly at or near Ferron about 80 miles south-southeast of Provo. The January 1920 Census identified his mother, Ethel Crawford Nielsen, as a homemaker and his father, Christian Nielsen, as a common laborer. The family lived in Ferron.

By 1930 the family was still in Ferron. The son graduated from South Emery (County) High School in Ferron. He left the central Utah town, population 515, to enlist in the Navy on May 31, 1940.

Mr. Nielsen was a carpenter’s mate and petty officer third class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

He was survived by his parents, five sisters, and a younger brother. The brother, Earl, also served in the Navy during World War II.

Sources: the Emery County (Utah) Progress; the Salt Lake (Utah) Telegram; Census; Navy muster roll; grave markers; Defense Department; Utah service record.  Note: Mr. Nielsen’s middle name is variously spelled in records as Theadore and Theodore, but is Theadore on his Navy enlistment papers and as the middle name of his father on his 1942 hand-printed draft registration. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.