Albert Richard Blanchard was born Feb. 11, 1918 in St. Paul, Minnesota to William E. Blanchard, a shoe factory worker, and Anna Warisch Blanchard, a homemaker.
By the time of the 1930 Census Albert was still in St. Paul and living with his mother and step-father, Andrew Spock.
Albert enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 14, 1939, and went aboard the U.S.S. Arizona on Jan. 27, 1940. He was a coxswain and petty officer third class when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
His brother, William J. Blanchard, who was two years older, served in the Army from April 1942 through September 1945.