Stanley Paul Menzenski was born Sept. 5, 1921 in Yonkers, New York. His mother, Sophia Nowicki Menzenski, was a winder at a carpet factory and his father, Vincent Menzenski, a laborer at a sugar refinery. The parents were Polish immigrants.

Young Mr. Menzenski studied at Benjamin Franklin Junior High School and for one year at Saunders Technical High School, both in Yonkers. The family attended St. Casimir’s Catholic Church.

When he applied to the Navy he said he wanted to become an aviation machinist’s mate. He enlisted on Nov. 22, 1939.

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

Both of his brothers served in the war. Paul Edward flew more than 30 missions as an armorer-gunner on a B-24 bomber. Army records say Alvin Peter served in the Army, but his obituary said it was the Navy.

Sources: the Poughkeepsie (New York) Journal; The U.S. Department of Defense; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1666 in Yonkers, NY; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.