F1c Roy Eugene Wood

Roy Eugene Wood was born May 27, 1917 in Carter County about 90 miles south of Oklahoma City. His mother, Roxie Arnold Wood, was a homemaker, and his father William G. Wood, an oil field worker.

The family lived in Hewitt Township according to the 1920, 1930, 1935, and 1940 census records, but in the 1940 Census on April 23, the father reported that he was a widower. He lived with daughter Geraldine and the youngest child, Ralph.

Roy Wood had enlisted in the Navy on Oct. 3, 1939 and went aboard the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 20, 1939. He was a fireman first class on the Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

His brother Ralph was 17 when he joined the Navy in September 1943. His goal, he said, was to settle the score for Roy’s death. Ralph served until March 1946.

Sources: The Yuma (Arizona) Sun; Census; Navy muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.