MM1c Earl Clifton Sletto

Earl Clifton Sletto was born March 20, 1917 in Douglas County in west-central Minnesota, probably in Moe Township south of Brandon, population about 290, where he was baptized. His mother, Sarah Lea Sletto, was a homemaker, and his father, Emil Sletto, a farmer. The son was not quite two when his mother died.

The 1920 Census said Earl lived nearby with his maternal grandparents, but by 1930 he was back in the household of his father, who had remarried.

Young Mr. Sletto enlisted in the Navy on July 10, 1936. He was a machinist’s mate and petty officer first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

HIs only brother, Lloyd, served in the Army during World War II. The family also included three sisters.

There is a cenotaph for Mr. Sletto at the Moe Lutheran Cemetery in Moe, Minnesota. His parents are buried there.

Sources: the Alexandria (Minnesota) Echo Press; Minnesota birth index; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church in American baptism record; Census; Navy muster roll; grave markers. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.