Comments/Citation:
Hubert Charles Titus Aaron was born 22 October 1919 in Garland, Miller County, Arkansas, the last of six children of Alfred Alonzo Aaron (1883-1969) and Jemima Davis Aaron (1884-1966). Hubert had three older sisters, Rubbie (Ruby Briggs, 3 May 1904 - 15 Dec 1993), Ester (24 Jun 1911 - 6 Jul 2006), and Myrtis (Nora Myrtis Briggs, (22 Jan 1913 - 27 Oct 2008) and two older brothers, Arlie (22 Apr 1906 - 5 Mar 1995) and Rubelle (Byron Ruvelle, 31 Jul 1907 - 10 May 1949).
Hubert grew up and attended school in Texarkana, Arkansas attending Fouke High School. After school, if Hubert wasn't playing baseball or chasing girls, he could be found helping his father work on the family farm.
Hubert completed three years of high school; leaving without finishing to enlist in the U.S. Navy. Hubert enlisted on 14 Oct 1940 with the rank of Seaman Recruit, Service Number: 3468621. SR Aaron was ordered to Boot Camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. After completion of Boot Camp SR Aaron was promoted to Apprentice Seaman and shifted his attention to his "A" School training by selecting a Military Occupational Speciality (mos) as Fireman Apprentice. Navy Fireman (FN) are responsible for standing engineering watches and performing minor maintenance repairs. This rating is part of an apprenticeship opportunity that leads to training in various ratings in propulsion and precision welding/fabrication/plumbing.
Enlistees enter into this career path as Fireman Recruits and complete on-the-job training or technical schooling to enter into an available specialty career for which they both desire and qualify for. After graduating from "A" School, A.S. Aaron was promoted to Seaman Third Class/Fireman Third Class and assigned to the USS Arizona (BB-39).
After graduation from "A" School, F3c Aaron was given leave to return home before reporting to his duty station. F3c Aaron first arrived onboard the USS Arizona (BB-39) on 4 Jan 1941 and began working as an Apprentice Fireman Third Class.
On 7 December 1941, Arizona (BB-39) was hit by Japanese torpedo bombers that dropped armor-piercing bombs during the attack on Pearl Harbor. After one of their bombs detonated in a magazine, she exploded violently and sank, with the loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other ships sunk or damaged that day, Arizona was irreparably damaged by the force of the magazine explosion, though the Navy removed parts of the ship for reuse. The wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor beneath the USS Arizona Memorial. Dedicated on 30 May 1962 to all those who died during the attack, the memorial straddles but does not touch the ship's hull.
F2c Hubert Charles Titus Aaron was one of those sailors and personnel who were lost to this attack. F2c Aaron is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing, Court 5, at the Honolulu Memorial, 2177 Puowaina Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-1729. The Courts of the Missing is located within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. F2c Aaron is also memorialized in a grave in Arkansas.
The following is an article which appeared in the Texarkana Gazette:
Hubert Charles Titus Aaron was born on October 22, 1919 to Alfred Alonzo and Jennie Davis Aaron. The Aarons were farmers in the Arkansas side of the small town of Texarkana. Hubert had two brothers and three sisters all of whom grew up on the family's forty plus acre farm. He loved baseball, according to a nephew who said Hubert could throw a ball higher than anyone he knew. A niece remembered him coming home with a girlfriend for Christmas in 1939. A cousin remembers Hubert singing hymns on Sundays in the front row of the Shiloh Baptist Church.
Instead of graduating from Fouke High School with his class, before his senior year, Hubert opted to join the Navy, in part friends believe because the country was in the throes of the Depression and there were few opportunities to earn a living a the time. His service entry date is listed as October 14, 1940. He was assigned to the USS Arizona on January 4, 1941.
As a sailor assigned to the engine room and boiler room of the battleship, Hubert was doing what he loved to do -- work on motors. Among his duties, he was a fireman and would most likely have been deep in the bowels of the USS Arizona or in his bunk when it was hit.
Hubert perished during the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 along with 1,176 other sailors and marines who died aboard the battleship USS Arizona.
Hubert Aaron's name is the first listed on the memorial of WW2 dead at Pearl Harbor. His remains were never recovered, but is memorialized in a grave in Arkansas, one in which his brother was actually interred.
According to Morris Aaron, Jennie Aaron was adamant about putting a headstone up for Hubert, even though he died on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, and there were no remains for him, she would not rest until she had something to memorialize him. When Ruvelle "Man" Aaron, his brother passed away, Jennie and Alonzo put both of their information on the headstone, even though only Ruvelle is actually buried in the plot.
Posthumous Awards
Purple Heart
Combat Action Ribbon
World War II Victory Medal
American Campaign Medal
Navy Presidential Unit Citation
Navy Good Conduct Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Navy Expeditionary Medal
All Gave Some - Some Gave All
References:
Ancestry.com
Honor States
USS Arizona (BB-39)
USS Arizona Memorial
Johnnie C. Broadhead | American Battle Monuments Commission (abmc.gov)
United States Federal Census
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S., National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 1941-2011
Find a Grave.com
U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 30 September 1941
U.S., World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 31 December 1941
Newspapers.com
The Texarkana Gazette
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.
If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please click HERE to email Together We Served directly.
SBTSProject/Arkansas/Texarkana
|
