Richard Warren Kruger was born Dec. 19, 1919 in San Francisco, California to Helena Muller Kruger, a homemaker, and Herman Kruger, a saloon owner. The parents were German immigrants.

Richard completed 10th grade at George Washington High School before he  enlisted in the Navy on Sept. 12, 1938.

Mr. Kruger was a quartermaster and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Shortly before he died, he wrote to his parents that he expected to be home for Christmas “but we’re not sure of anything these days.”

Sources: The San Francisco Examiner; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; U.S. Veterans Administration master index; World War I military registration card. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.