- Rank:
- Branch:
- Home Town:
- Date Of Birth:
- Disposition:
- Family DNA on File:
BM2c John Charles Mcclafferty
John Charles McClafferty had been in the Navy 12 years and was a boatswain’s mate and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
He was born on July 18, 1915 in Ohio to Fred McClafferty, a craneman at a steel mill, and Ethel O’Neil McClafferty, a homemaker and later a nurse.
The 1930 Census showed the family living in Youngstown, Ohio. John, the youngest of three children, was in school. He was a member of St. Columba Catholic Church in Youngstown.
Mr. McClafferty reportedly had qualified for a promotion to boatswain’s mate first class, but that was not due to take effect till February 1942.
He is buried at the O’ahu Cemetery in Honolulu.
Sources: Youngstown Vindicator, Census; Ohio marriage license application; Headstone application for military veterans. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.