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F2c Roger Joseph Bergin
Roger Joseph Bergin was born Sept. 25, 1916 in tiny Goodrich, North Dakota 55 miles northeast of Bismarck to Austin Frederick Bergin and Marian Bickel Bergin.
The family moved by December 1918 to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. However, the 1930 Census shows Roger Bergin as a lodger and laborer on a farm in Deepwater, North Dakota. By August 1940 he was working as a routeman driving a truck in Royal Oak, Mich.
He enlisted in the Navy on Oct. 8, 1940 and was a fireman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Canadian newspapers identified him as a countryman when the Navy released the first official war casualty list in May 1942. His father was separated from his mother and living in Moose Jaw at that time and in late August 1940 when the son applied to enlist in the Navy.
At least one brother, Kenneth Joseph Bergin, served as a Canadian soldier during the war. He was captured by Germans in the fall of 1944. Russians eventually overran the camp where he was held, but his journey to freedom at the Ukrainian port of Odessa on the Black Sea was nearly as harrowing as his captivity.
Sources: U.S. and Canadian Census records; Toronto Globe and Mail; Military magazine; Navy muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
NOTE: If you are a family member related to this crew member of the U.S.S. Arizona, or have additional information, pictures or documents to share about his life or service to our county please contact us through our FAMILY MEMBER SUBMISSION FORM.