USS Arizona ROC

Newspaper Clipping

• Name of Record: Irwin Corinthis Anderson
• Branch: United States Navy
• Service Number: 269 69 79
• Rate: MAtt1/c (Mess Attendant First Class)
• Duties: Serves food to officers and crew aboard ship. Prepares hot and cold drinks, and fruits, for serving, and sets tables for meals.
• Enlisted: 2 January 1936
• Place: Norfolk, Virginia
• Onboard USS Arizona: 22 April 1936
• From: NTS Virginia

• Birth Name: Irwin Corinthis Anderson
• Date of Birth: 24 April 1916 - (Military Records show 24 January 1916)
• Place of Birth: Norfolk, Virginia
• School: Graduate of Booker T. Washington High School
• Additional: Studied 2 years of printing at Hampton Institute
• Hometown / State on December 1941: Norfolk, Virginia
• Next of Kin: Mr. Jonas M. Anderson - Father
• Address: 2431 Hale St., Norfolk, Virginia
• Parents: Jonas Marcellus Anderson & Jessie Johnson Anderson
• Wife: Annis F. Logan Anderson - California - Married 7 July 1941, California

• 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

Note: I have to mention how struck I am that this young man was very educated for the time, but because of his race could be no more than a Mess Attendant in our Navy. So many young men who joined the Navy at a young age had very little education. Many had no more than a 7th grade education, some had less. Yet most of these men were afforded the opportunity to advance their careers. I am sure Irwin Anderson had dreams of becoming a printer, maybe even owning his own print shop some day. ~N. A. Nease

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, USS Arizona Historian [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