ABERCROMBIE, Samuel Adolphus - S1/c USN - Texas

Samuel Adolphus Abercrombie S1c
Samuel Aldophus Abercrombie
Seaman First Class
Samuel Adolphus Abercrombie S1c
S. A. ABERCROMBIE
USS Arizona Memorial Wall
USS Arizona ROC
  • Name of Record: Samuel Adolphus Abercrombie
  • Branch: United States Navy
  • Service Number: 360 19 81
  • Rate: S1/c (Seaman First Class)
  • Flag Allowance CBD-1 (Commander Battleship Division ONE)
  • Duties: Know naval drill duties, knots, steering and signaling. Stand watch and gunnery duties.
  • Enlisted: 2 August 1940
  • Place: Houston, Texas
  • Onboard USS Arizona: 14 October 1940
  • From: NTS San Diego
  • Birth Name: Samuel Adolphus Abercrombie
  • Date of Birth: 18 March 1919
  • Place of Birth: Leggett, Texas
  • School: Not Known
  • Hometown / State on December 1941: Leggett, Texas
  • Next of Kin: Mr. Richard Edwards Abercrombie - Brother
  • Address: Leggett, Texas
  • Parents: John Thomas Abercrombie & Maude Rice Abercrombie
  • Disposition: Unrecoverable – Among the 900+ souls still onboard the USS Arizona
  • Posthumous Awards: Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal w/Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/Star, WWII Victory Medal

Following the death of his mother, Maude, in 1919, many of the younger children went to live with other family members. Adolphus lived with is sister Ethel Cook and her husband, Jarrett for several years, and was more like a son, than a brother to her. He was kind and fun to be with according to family oral history, and loved by everyone.

May 24, 2014 - Nelda Pratt-Goergen's Memories of Samuel Adolphus Abercrombie
"I am the 81 year old daughter of Carlyn Bernice Malone Pratt. My mother was raised with Adolphus almost as a brother to her and her siblings. My grandmother, Bernice Jacquita Caliham Malone helped in raising Adolphus and his brother Edwin, I believe was his name. My grandmother and Mrs. Abercrombie were dear friends. I don't know why Adolphus and his brother were so often a part of my mother's family, I just know that they were.

"I was nine years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and my memories of Adolphus before then are sketchy. Flashes of a face, memories of boys laughing, having fun together. My mother had four brothers, and Adolphus was like a fifth one. When the Arizona went down, his death was a great tragedy to the entire family, even to me, a child. Even though I barely knew, I felt my family's pain, because he had been dearly loved. The Malone clan of eight children claimed him as a brother, and they grieved him as a brother, but they also honored him and celebrated him as a hero. I've always been very proud to know that my family has a hero, among the heroes on the Arizona, who gave all that he had to give at that time when his nation needed him most. I always believed he was a radio man, but I don't know if this was childhood memory, or childhood invention.

"Adolphus and all of the Malone kids were raised in Leggett Texas. All of the Malone kids were born in Leggett, and Adolphus probably was too. Since I was born there also, I am allowed to say, proudly, that it is probably the teeniest place in all of the great state of Texas, so our births contributed greatly to the population. Thank you, Nelda Pratt-Goergen."
Contributed by Alice Camilletti - Granddaughter of Nelda Pratt-Goergen

Photo and Service information from the Vincent J. Vlach, USN Ret., (USS Arizona Survivor & Ship's Historian) and I. B. Nease, USNR Ret., (USS Arizona Historian) Collections [privately held collections]
Other Information, Documents, and/or Photos provided by N. A. Nease [privately held collection]
Report of Changes: National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, United States; Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939 - 01/01/1949; Record Group: 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, 1798 - 2007; Series ARC ID: 594996; Series MLR Number: A1 135
Information researched and compiled by N. A. Nease.
May not be reprinted in any form, other than non-profit educational use, without prior written permission of the author.