S1c Charles Harris Mathison

Charles Harris Mathison was born Dec. 19, 1921. HIs parents were Oscar Mathison, a laborer at a tile factory, and Emily Kerr Mathison, a homemaker.

The family mostly lived in Wisconsin, though one daughter was born in North Dakota just before Christmas 1923.

The parents were listed in the 1927 Waukesha, Wisconsin city directory, but they must have divorced soon after. By 1930 Emily was married to George Sampson and they lived in Waukesha with nine children.

Based on Census records, Charles Harris Mathison had seven full siblings and about four half siblings.

He enlisted in the Navy on Aug. 6, 1940, and was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least one of his brothers served in World War II. Floyd Mathison was in the Navy from October 1943 through December 1945. When their father filled out a military registration card in June 1918 he said he had served two years as a private.

Sources: The Chico (California) Enterprise-Record; the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal; the Leader-Telegram of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Herald-Telegram; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs death file; Census; Navy muster roll; 1918 military registration card; Defense Department. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.