Francis Lawrence Klopp was born Dec. 3, 1914 to Theresa Houk Klopp, a homemaker, and John Klopp, a railroad section boss.

Francis, one of 10 children, grew up in Tiffin, a town of about 15,000 in northern Ohio. He completed 10th grade at the local high school and also served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era federal jobs program. The CCC, as it was known, employed single men 18 to 25 to plant trees, build roads and trails and make other improvements to public land, forests and parks. The men lived at camps across the country and were provided a bed and three meals a day. Of their $30 monthly pay, $25 was sent to their families.

He enlisted in the Navy on June 21, 1938, and was a gunner’s mate 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.

At least one of his brothers, John Joseph Jr., also served in the Navy in World War II.

Sources: The News-Messenger of Fremont, Ohio; the Journal Herald of Dayton, Ohio; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; grave markers; Defense Department. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.