USS Arizona ROC

• Name of Record: Richard James Ahern
• Branch: United States Navy
• Service Number: 382 12 14
• Rate: F1/c (Fireman First Class)
• Duties: Fire and tend boilers. Operate, adjust and repair pumps.
• Enlisted: 10 October 1939
• Place: Los Angeles, California
• Onboard USS Arizona: 20 December 1939
• From: NTS San Diego

• Birth Name: Richard James Ahern
• Date of Birth: 2 October 1921
• Place of Birth: Gurley, Nebraska
• School: Van Nuys High School
• Hometown / State on December 1941: Van Nuys, California
• Next of Kin: Mr. James Daniel Ahern - Father
• Address: 6617 Vesper Avenue, Van Nuys, California
• Parents: James Daniel Ahern & Sadie Catherine Penry Ahern

• 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

After completing high school, one of his sisters, Margaret Marie Ahern Andersen, attended College and graduated with a degree in Nursing. She worked in several different hospitals around the country and then joined the United States Air Force as a Flight Nurse. She served during the Korean conflict and was Honorably Discharged after obtaining the rank of Captain. She continued her work in Nursing and retired from the University of Rhode Island Health Services where she worked for over a decade.

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