RM3c Donald Joseph Kusie

Donald Joseph Kusie left high school in Dickinson in southwest North Dakota after three years to join the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era federal jobs program.

He served in California and Minnesota, rising to the rank of assistant leader before his enlistment expired. He then joined the Navy, on May 21, 1940.

Mr. Kusie was a radioman and petty officer third class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,  Dec. 7, 1941.

He was born New Year’s Day 1919 in Dickinson. His father, Anton Kusie, was a meat cutter and his mother, Mary Janisch Kusie, a homemaker.

An uncle, Joseph William Kusie, a Marine, was killed in France during World War I.

Sources: The Dickinson Press; Census; Navy muster rolls; Minnesota marriage index. The Defense Department and a news article at the time of his death said Mr. Kusie was born in 1919. However, a cenotaph at the Dickinson Cemetery lists the year as 1921. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.