Andrew Joseph Danik was born in Pennsylvania April 6, 1921, the son of Czech immigrants Magdalina and John Danik. The father ran a grocery and the mother was a homemaker.
The son attended Garfield High in Akron, Ohio, then served in the Civilian Conservation Corps — a Depression-era federal jobs program. The 1940 Census, conducted in the spring, identified him as a truck driver. He enlisted in the Navy on Oct. 16.
Mr. Danik was a seaman second class when he was killed on the U.S.S. Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
One of his brothers, George, served in the Army in World War II and survived.
On March 13, 1941, Mr. Danik wrote a letter home to his best friend, George Deme Jr.: “So I hear that you got a job, man that’s bad business, and just between me and you I wouldn’t take any job in Akron because I’m satisfied right here where I am. Not a worry in the world but till the next time payday comes.”