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ENS James Wallace Haverfield
A residence hall at Ohio State University is named in memory of 1939 graduate James Wallace Haverfield, who was killed in the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Mr. Haverfield belonged to Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was a member of Scarlet Mask, a musical comedy group. After earning his bachelor of arts degree, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve and attended officers’ training at Northwestern University. He was commissioned as an ensign on June 2, 1941, and assigned to the U.S.S. Arizona.
Mr. Haverfield was born April 11, 1917 at Uhrichsville, a town of about 6,500 in east-central Ohio. His father, George Haverfield, was a doctor, and his mother, Bessie Long Haverfield, a homemaker. The son graduated from Uhrichsville High School in 1935. He carved his name into a wall behind the school auditorium, where it remained as recently as 2014.
The Navy launched the U.S.S. Haverfield, a destroyer escort, in a 1943 ceremony in Houston, Texas, attended by Mr. Haverfield’s parents and a brother, Robert, who had joined the Navy in July 1942. A pharmacist’s mate, Robert served aboard his brother’s namesake ship for about nine months and then elsewhere for the rest of the war. Robert was there, too, in 1969 when the ship was removed from service. The decommissioning ceremony took place at Pearl Harbor.
A third Haverfield brother, William, served in the Army from May 1942 to February 1946.
Sources: The Daily Times of New Philadelphia, Ohio; The Bargain Hunter of Wooster, Ohio; The Daily Reporter of Dover, Ohio; The Indianapolis (Indiana) Star; Naval History and Heritage Command; the Ohio State University special collections library; Census; grave markers; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs death files. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
NOTE: If you are a family member related to this crew member of the U.S.S. Arizona, or have additional information, pictures or documents to share about his life or service to our county please contact us through our FAMILY MEMBER SUBMISSION FORM.