John Calvin Atchison attended McKinley High in St. Louis, Missouri, before joining the Marines in August 1940.
He was a private when he was killed on the U.S.S. Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Mr. Atchison, born Feb. 23, 1922, at Sparta, Illinois, was the only son of Earl Atchison, a miner laborer and later a hotel employee, and Ethel Ragsdale Atchison, a seamstress at a jacket company.
The son also attended Sigel Elementary in St. Louis. A memorial service for him was held in August 1942 at Lafayette Park Methodist Church.
Sources: St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Census; Marine enlistment record and photograph; WWII draft registration card. Marine photo. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.