F3c Leonard Carl Larson

Leonard Carl Larson was born Aug. 5, 1921 in Minnesota. HIs father, Carl Oscar Larson, was a carpenter and his mother, Hanna Flaaten Larson, a homemaker. The parents were Norwegian immigrants.

By the time of the 1940 Census, conducted in the spring, the family was living in Grant County in central Washington. Leonard had completed 8th grade and was a laborer for the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era jobs program. He earned $90 for 12 weeks of work the previous year.

Mr. Larson enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 12, 1940. He was a fireman third class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least one other brother, Don, also served in the Navy in World War II.

Sources: Notice of Settlement Claim for Navy pay; Census; Navy muster rolls; the Spokane (Washington) Daily Chronicle; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs death file. Thanks to Cathy Curtin for the photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.