A.J. Scott was born May 8, 1924 in Springtown, Texas, to Franklin Pierce Scott and Anna Cmar Scott. His father was a farmer and the mother a homemaker.

The son completed 10th grade at the high school in Boyd, Texas. 

He enlisted in the Navy on June 5, 1941 and was soon aboard the U.S.S. Arizona. He was a seaman second class when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. He was still just 17, the minimum legal age for enlistment with the approval of a parent.

In a letter home in August 1941 he said he’d gained weight and was taking up boxing and wrestling. He was 5-foot-4 and 123 pounds when he enlisted. He also said he was training to be a radioman, using the dot-dashes of Morse Code. He signed off “A.J. The Salty Sailor” and added a bit of code.

All of his brothers served in the military. Ben was in the Navy from September 1942 through October 1945. Buck was in the Navy from October 1944 through July 1946. Steve served in the Navy from January 1944 through July 1963. The youngest, Thomas, served in the Army during Korea and Vietnam.

Sources: the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram; the Herald-Statesman of Yonkers, NY; Census; grave markers; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs death files. The letter home is in the collection of the National Museum of the Pacific/Admiral Nimitz Foundation. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona and Operation 85.