WT1c Vivan Louis Young

Vivan Louis Young joined the Navy in 1920. In the summer of 1939 as the armed services began gearing up for possible war, he re-enlisted one final time.

He was a petty officer first class and watertender in the engine room of the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Mr. Young was born on a farm near Colby in northwest Kansas to Edna Dailey Young, a homemaker, and Jerry “Bud” Young. The parents separated when he was a boy. He lived with his mother, brother, and her second husband in Colorado by 1910, then by 1915 with his paternal grandparents 8 miles north of Colby in Rovohl, Kansas, according to census records.

When he registered for the draft in 1917, Vivan (pronounced Vie-Van) listed his residence as in Colby and his birthdate as Aug. 3, 1897. Other records say he was born in 1900, and based on well-documented family milestones, that is most likely correct.

Sources: The Colby (Kansas) Free Press; Census records, Navy muster rolls; WWI draft registration card. Special thanks to relatives Jack Young and Jayne Wiese for much of this information and the Navy photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.