Sterling Conrad Johnson was born Nov. 7, 1919 at Tacoma, Washington. His father, Carl Johnson, was a glazier, and his mother, Lyda Osness Johnson, a homemaker.

The son attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma through 10th grade. He worked for two years as a dairy laborer and also made ice cream. He served in the Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era federal jobs program.

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 served in Co. 2941 at Longmire, which made improvements at Mount Rainier National Park.

He enlisted in the Navy on Apirl 10, 1940. Mr. Johnson 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.

A younger brother, Kermit, joined the Navy in June 1942. He survived the war.

Sources: The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster roll; Washington birth record; Navy oath of allegiance. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.