Charles Harris Mathison was born Dec. 19, 1921 in Westboro, Wisconsin. His parents were Oscar Mathison, a laborer at a tile factory, and Emily Kerr Mathison, a homemaker.

The family mostly lived in Wisconsin, though one daughter was born in North Dakota just before Christmas 1923.

The father was 38 when he died of a heart attack in June 1926 at the family home in Waukesha. He was survived by seven children and three step-children. The next year his widow, Emily, married George Sampson.

At some point young Charles moved to Glendale, California, to live with an older sister and her husband.  Charles graduated from high school there in 1940 and applied to the Navy that June. He enlisted on Aug. 6, 1940 and went aboard the U.S.S. Arizona that October.

He was a seaman first class when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least one of his brothers served in World War II. Floyd Mathison was in the Navy from October 1943 through December 1945. When their father filled out a military registration card in June 1918 he said he had served two years as a private.

Sources: The Chico (California) Enterprise-Record; the Waukesha (Wisconsin) Freeman; the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Journal; the Leader-Telegram of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Herald-Telegram; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs death file; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; 1918 military registration card; Defense Department. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.