Walter Charles Ebel was born March 22, 1895 at Genesee in northern Idaho. His mother, Freida Mattausch, was a homemaker and his father, Charles Ebel, a farmer. They were German immigrants and Walter was the oldest of their 14 children. 

Walter enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 22, 1926. He was a turret captain and chief petty officer on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. 

He married Florence in 1926 and their son, Edward, was born in 1928 in Long Beach, California, next to the home port of the U.S.S. Arizona.

At least three of his brothers, Robert, Charles, and Anthony, also served in the military during World War II.

Sources:  the San Bernardino County (California) Sun; the Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune; the Spokane (Washington) Chronicle;  Census; Connecticut marriage record; World War II draft registration card; Veterans Administration. Ancestry.com photograph. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.