F2c John Raymond Terrell

Two young men from Harrisburg, a town of about 1,200 in northeast Arkansas, died on the U.S.S. Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Leroy George Frank was born April 24, 1916 in Colorado. His mother, Laura Skinner Frank, was a homemaker and his father, Roy Frank, a farmer. The family moved to Poinsett County, Arkansas — Harrisburg is the county seat — by 1930. They lived in the town proper by 1935.

The son enlisted in the Navy on Dec. 16, 1939, and was a seaman first class when he was killed on Dec. 7, 1941.

John Raymond Terrell was born in Harrisburg on June 5, 1920 according to his father and per high school records. His mother, Delphia Duke Terrell, was a homemaker, and his father, Harry William Terrell, a World War I Army veteran, a house carpenter in 1920, a jailer in 1930, and a carpenter on bridge construction in 1940.

The son graduated from Harrisburg High School in 1938. The spring 1940 Census said he was seeking work but had not had a job for 92 weeks. The father had worked 40 weeks in 1939 for $750 – the equivalent of about $14,500 in 2022 dollars.

Mr. Terrell enlisted in the Navy on Oct. 4, 1940, and was a fireman second class when he died.

Mr. Frank’s younger brother, Robert, served in the Navy in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Sources: Census; Navy muster rolls; grave markers; WWII draft registration card; U.S. Department of Defense. The Harrisburg HIgh School yearbook photos shows Mr. Terrell in the bottom row, third from left. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.