S1c Walter Arnold Vojta

Walter Arnold Vojta was born Nov. 1, 1921 in Hennepin County, Minnesota near or in Minneapolis to Frank U. Vojta, a farmer, and Anne J. Hendrickson Vojta, a homemaker.

By 1930 the father owned a farm in Brunswick Township about 50 miles north of Minneapolis. By April 1935 the sons were attending school roughly eight miles to the northwest in Ogilvie, a town of about 400.

The parents divorced in 1939 and by April 1940 Walter and his brother, Francis, who was a year older, were living as lodgers in Minneapolis. Walter had completed three years of high school and his brother four years.

Walter enlisted in the Navy in October 1940. He was a seaman first class when he was killed on the U.S.S. Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

By then, Francis was a corporal at a National Guard camp in Louisiana. He left for North Africa in January 1942 and fought in Tunisia and Italy. Francis earned the Silver Star for his service in World War II. He also served in Korea and retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Sources: The Star Tribune of Minneapolis; Census; Navy muster roll; Fort Snelling National Cemetery; Minnesota Historical Society’s birth records index. Navy photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.