BM2c Fred Edwin Westlund

Fred Edwin Westlund was born Nov. 28, 1915 in Snohomish County, Washington north and northeast of Seattle. His mother, Jenny Gummerson Westlund, was a homemaker and his father, Carl Westlund, a farmer. The parents were Swedish immigrants.

The family lived at Getchell, a hamlet of about 300 people near coastal Everett, Washington. Fred graduated from high school, most likely at Marysville.

It isn’t clear when the son first enlisted in the Navy, but it was before May 1937, when he married Ann Riley. They had a daughter in 1938 and by the time of the 1940 Census were living in Long Beach, California next to San Pedro, the home port of Mr. Westlund’s ship, the U.S.S. Arizona.

He was a boatswain’s mate and petty officer second class when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least one of his brothers, Bertil, served in the Army during World War II.

Sources: Washington marriage certificate; Washington birth index; Census; Navy muster roll; Daneri Mortuary obituary; Marysville (Washington) Cemetery markers. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.