Wesley Vernon Emery was born Jan. 29, 1920 in Lawrence County, Indiana to Ira Emery, a planerman at a stone cutting business, and Texsie Kelly Emery, a homemaker.
He graduated from Shawswick Consolidated High School in Bedford, Indiana in 1938 and enlisted in the Navy that July.
He was a storekeeper and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
His brother, Dale, served in the Army and survived the war.
Sources: The Indianapolis Star; Census; Navy muster roll; U.S. Department of Defense. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.