SC1c Thell Arnold

Thell Arnold was under age two when his mother died. The father, Christopher Columbus Arnold, was a farmer in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, on the state line with Arkansas. The 1920 Census, conducted in March, said he was assisted at work by his three oldest sons. The mother, Mattie Pollock Arnold, died that Oct. 4.

Tragedy struck again on Dec. 2, 1923 when the father died.

One of Thell’s older brothers, Charley, became his guardian. Thell had completed 9th grade at the high school in Kibler, Arkansas, when he enlisted in the Navy on March 11, 1938. A brief news story in May said he was the honor man in his company of 125 new recruits at the Naval Training Center in San Diego.

He was a ship’s cook and petty officer first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least two of his brothers also served in World War II — Zell in the Army and Ernest in the Navy.

Note that Thell’s date of birth is uncertain. Both when he applied to the Navy and when he enlisted he said he was born Aug. 17, 1919. But the Census conducted in March 1920 said he was 16 months old. That same Census said his brother Zell was four months old. Zell’s military records, marriage license, obituary and grave marker all say he was born in August 1919. The boys were not twins. Multiple records, including one regarding their father’s estate after he died, said they were a year apart.