F1c Wilbur Leroy Kellogg

Wilbur Leroy Kellogg knew much heartache in his short life.

He was born Dec. 17, 1918 in Trinchera, Colorado, a spot on the road 30 miles southeast of Trinidad on the plains near the New Mexico border. His father, Walter Kellogg, was a farmer and his mother Dora Ann Davis Kellogg, a homemaker.

His mother died in 1926 and Wilbur and three siblings went to live with their maternal grandparents, James and Mary Davis, about 130 miles northwest in a valley in the Rockies near Florence in Fremont County, Colorado. The grandfather died in 1932.

Wilbur apparently remained in the Florence area until he enlisted in the Navy on April 3, 1940 in Denver. Though his name did not appear in school yearbooks for the late 1930s, those of two of his brothers did.

Mr. Kellogg was a fireman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

At least one other brother, Truman, also served in World War II. He graduated from Florence High School in 1941 and served in the Navy.

Sources: Navy muster rolls; Census; grave markers at Union Highland Cemetery in Florence, Colorado.; Defense Department. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.