John Anthony Kosec probably never met his only child, a son born two months before Mr. Kosec was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

He was a boatswain’s mate and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he died, Dec. 7, 1941.

His son, Craig Anthony Kosec, was born in September in Long Beach, the home port of the battleship. But it left there in July, never to return to the mainland.

Mr. Kosec also was survived by his widow, Katherine.

He was born Jan. 14, 1918, in Youngstown, Ohio to Mary and Thomas Kosec, both Yugoslavian immigrants. The father was a steel mill worker.

When John Anthony applied to the Navy he said he’d completed 8th grade and had served in the Civilian Conservations Corps.  The CCC, as it was known,  employed single men 18 to 25 to plant trees, build roads and trails and make other improvements to public land, forests and parks. The men lived at camps across the country and were provided a bed and three meals a day. Of their $30 monthly pay, $25 was sent to their families.

He listed “better my self” as his reason for joining. He enlisted on Feb. 9, 1937.

He was a member of the Arizona swim team, which competed against crews from other ships at Pearl Harbor.

His son served in the Navy from 1959-1962.

Sources: At ‘Em Arizona newsletter, August 1941; U.S. Veterans Administration; passport application; Ohio marriage record; California birth index; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.