John Pugh Jr. was born in Enid, Oklahoma on April 6, 1920, according to his Navy enlistment records. But the Census conducted on Jan. 17 1920 says a John L. Pugh Jr. was already 10 months old. His mother was Pearl Bailey Pugh, a homemaker, and his father an oil-well driller.

That 1920 Census says the family was living in Covington, about 23 miles from where John Jr. was born. The parents divorced and the son remained with his mother.

He completed 8th grade at the local high school in Van Buren, Arkansas — just across the Oklahoma border. He also lived at Rio Hondo and San Benito, both in Texas. He worked two years as a laborer for L.H. Price Construction Co. in San Benito.

Mr. Pugh Jr. enlisted in the Navy at Houston, Texas on June 7, 1940. He was a shipfitter 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.

Sources: Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll. ​This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.