SC1c Robert Gary Thompson

Robert Gary Thompson was born Aug. 29, 1914 in Georgia.

He was a ship’s cook and petty officer first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

On April 1, 1935 he was at Parris Island, South Carolina, best known as a Marine training camp.

On June 11, 1938 he enlisted or re-enlisted in the Navy. In December in California he married Ruby Susan Turner.

Most else of what is known about his life comes from the 1940 Census, which said he lived at Long Beach, California — home port to the battleship — with his wife and their infant son. Mr. Thompson had completed one year of college and earned $664 in 1939 – the equivalent of about $12,800 in 2022 dollars.

Sources: Census; Navy muster roll; California marriage and birth records. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.