Alfred Adam Ewell was born Aug. 25, 1911 in or near tiny Springston, Idaho south of Coeur d’Alene to Quarles Denton Ewell and Lulu May Luxton Ewell. The next day John J. Ewell was stillborn as the third offspring. Whether Alfred was the first or second born, there are apparently no records of the other triplet.

By the time another son was born in late July 1917 the family had moved to La Crosse in southeastern Washington state. In the same year the family was listed as living in Spokane with the father working as a boilermaker. By 1920 the family had moved to Pullman, Washington. The 1920 Census identified the father as a teamster and the mother as a homemaker.

When Alfred applied in January 1929 to join the Navy he said he’d complete 10th grade. He enlisted on Dec. 13, 1929. 

On Jan. 17, 1940 in Clark County, Nevada, Alfred married Evelyn Elizabeth McKay.

Less than two years later he was a watertender and petty officer first class when he was killed on the U.S.S. Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least one brother, Clyde, served in the Army in World War II and survived.

Sources: Census; birth, death and marriage records; Veterans Administration; Navy enlistment records. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona and Operation 85. Special thanks to nephew Dean Ewell for photos and documents of Alfred.