Reported for duty aboard the USS Arizona 6 December 1941. He had not yet been assigned duties or a battle station.
~
Leo DeVere Amundson enlisted in the Marines on July 16, 1941, shortly after his graduation from Central High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Less than five months later, he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Amundson was a gunnery private on the U.S.S. Arizona. He was 18.
The Central High yearbook said his hobby was working and that he enjoyed reading the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.
Mr. Amundson was born June 30, 1923, in Westby, Wisconsin, to Alvin Amundson, a carpenter, and Olga Berg Amundson, a Norwegian immigrant and a waitress. His older brother, Clarence, served in the Army in World War II and survived.
A memorial service for Mr. Amundson was held in February 1942 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in La Crosse. The local detachment of the Marine Corps League was named in his memory.
A second graduate of Central High also died on the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941. Darrel Miller Hess was seven years older than his shipmate.
Sources: The La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune; the La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press; 1941 Central High yearbook; Census; grave marker; Marine muster roll; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church record. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
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Leo DeVere Amundson enlisted in the Marines on July 16, 1941, shortly after his graduation from Central High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Less than five months later, he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Amundson was a gunnery private on the U.S.S. Arizona. He was 18.
The Central High yearbook said his hobby was working and that he enjoyed reading the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.
Mr. Amundson was born June 30, 1923, in Westby, Wisconsin, to Alvin Amundson, a carpenter, and Olga Berg Amundson, a Norwegian immigrant and a waitress. His older brother, Clarence, served in the Army in World War II and survived.
A memorial service for Mr. Amundson was held in February 1942 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in La Crosse. The local detachment of the Marine Corps League was named in his memory.
A second graduate of Central High also died on the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941. Darrel Miller Hess was seven years older than his shipmate.
Sources: The La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune; the La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press; 1941 Central High yearbook; Census; grave marker; Marine muster roll; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church record. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Reported for duty aboard the USS Arizona 6 December 1941. He had not yet been assigned duties or a battle station.
~
Leo DeVere Amundson enlisted in the Marines on July 16, 1941, shortly after his graduation from Central High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Less than five months later, he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Amundson was a gunnery private on the U.S.S. Arizona. He was 18.
The Central High yearbook said his hobby was working and that he enjoyed reading the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.
Mr. Amundson was born June 30, 1923, in Westby, Wisconsin, to Alvin Amundson, a carpenter, and Olga Berg Amundson, a Norwegian immigrant and a waitress. His older brother, Clarence, served in the Army in World War II and survived.
A memorial service for Mr. Amundson was held in February 1942 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in La Crosse. The local detachment of the Marine Corps League was named in his memory.
A second graduate of Central High also died on the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941. Darrel Miller Hess was seven years older than his shipmate.
Sources: The La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune; the La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press; 1941 Central High yearbook; Census; grave marker; Marine muster roll; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church record. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
~
Leo DeVere Amundson enlisted in the Marines on July 16, 1941, shortly after his graduation from Central High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Less than five months later, he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Mr. Amundson was a gunnery private on the U.S.S. Arizona. He was 18.
The Central High yearbook said his hobby was working and that he enjoyed reading the stories of Edgar Allen Poe.
Mr. Amundson was born June 30, 1923, in Westby, Wisconsin, to Alvin Amundson, a carpenter, and Olga Berg Amundson, a Norwegian immigrant and a waitress. His older brother, Clarence, served in the Army in World War II and survived.
A memorial service for Mr. Amundson was held in February 1942 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in La Crosse. The local detachment of the Marine Corps League was named in his memory.
A second graduate of Central High also died on the U.S.S. Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941. Darrel Miller Hess was seven years older than his shipmate.
Sources: The La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune; the La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press; 1941 Central High yearbook; Census; grave marker; Marine muster roll; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church record. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
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