The family of Karl Anthony Giesen worried about his fate for days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

He was a yeoman and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, and relatives back in Iowa had heard the news that the battleship was bombed and sank.

Letters, cards, and even Christmas gifts from Mr. Giesen arrived in Calmar, a town of about 1,000 in northeast Iowa. But all were dated and shipped before Dec. 7.

At last, on Christmas Day, a telegram officially announced his death.

Mr. Giesen was survived by a three-year-old daughter. A judge had granted his wife a divorce on grounds of “cruel and inhuman treatment” in the summer of 1941.

He was born Sept. 3, 1917 to Henry Joseph Giesen, a merchant, and Nellie Bernatz Giesen, a homemaker. Henry had been sick for several years and died when his son was 13.

Karl graduated in 1937 from Calmar High and enlisted in the Navy on March 9, 1938.

American Legion Post 266 in Calmar is named, in part, in honor of Mr. Giesen.

His brother Philip served in the Army during World War II.

Sources: Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette; The Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gazette; marriage record; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; Iowa WWII bonus case files for beneficiaries application. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.