S2c William Thomas Free

Thomas Augusta Free and his son, William Thomas Free, were together only briefly in life.

The last time was in October 1941, when Thomas, then 50, joined William, 17, on the crew of the U.S.S. Arizona. Both were killed that Dec. 7, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. There were dozens of relatives on the battleship — brothers, cousins, and uncles — but the Frees were the only father and son.

Thomas Augusta, known as Gussie, was born Feb. 2, 1891, in Barber County, Alabama. He competed 8th grade, though publicly available records do not say where. He moved to Texas and farmed before joining the Navy on Dec. 12, 1917. He was discharged on Aug. 1, 1919 and returned to Texas.

A short news article that December said he was in Bryan, about 90 miles northwest of Houston, after helping with the cotton harvest in west Texas. On Dec. 21 he married Myrtle Bice. He was 28 and had previously been married. She was 15.

Thomas Augusta re-enlisted on July 17, 1923.

William Thomas was born on Jan. 9, 1924, at Portsmouth, Virginia. His sister, Marie, was born in 1925 in California. Their parents divorced about two years later and the children went to live with their father’s sister, Lillie Mae, and her husband, Frank Meads, near Bryan in Brazos County Texas. They stayed with the Meads throughout childhood.

When the Census was conducted in April 1940, William was still with the Meads, but he soon moved to San Diego, which was his father’s home when he wasn’t at sea. William completed 8th grade at Memorial Junior High, then applied on Dec. 26, 1940, to join the Navy.

He enlisted on Jan. 30, 1941 and went aboard the Arizona in April 1941. At barely 17, he was one of the battleship’s youngest sailors. He was slight, at 5’7″ and 125 pounds.

By the time of his death he’d advanced from apprentice seaman to  seaman second class. His father was a machinist’s mate and petty officer first class.