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Casualty Info
Home Town Houston, TX
Last Address Houston, TX
Casualty Date Dec 07, 1941
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Hawaii
Conflict World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Attack on Pearl Harbor
Location of Interment USS Arizona Memorial - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates (cenotaph)
Military Service Number 3 600 612
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Mess Attendant/1c Louis Means was Killed in Action on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was stationed aboard the USS Arizona BB39.
Comments/Citation:
Louis Means was born Sept. 12, 1920, in Houston, Texas. His father, Eddie Means, worked at a lumber yard for many years, and his mother, Sadie Denman Means, was a cook.
The mother died in February 1930, and the Census that spring said Louis and two brothers lived with their maternal grandmother, Lillian Denman, in Houston. She died in February 1935.
Louis Means enlisted in the Navy in 1939, days after his 19th birthday. He was a mess attendant first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
Mr. Means was African-American, which meant that only one branch of service -- mess attendant -- was open to him in the segregated Navy. Mess attendants cooked, cleaned and performed other services. He was prohibited from advancing to a job with higher skill and pay.
His brothers Eddie Jr. and Clarence also served in the war. Eddie Jr. became a corporal in the Army Air Corps and served from October 1942 through September 1945. Clarence became a staff sergeant in the Army and served from August 1940 through April 1943.
Sources: U.S. Veterans Administration master index; Census; Texas death certificates; World War I and World War I military registration cards; Houston city directories; grave markers; the Houston Chronicle.
This information was researched and written on behalf of the USS Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Pennsylvania Class Battleship: Displacement 31,400 Tons, Dimensions, 608' 6" (oa) x 97' 1" x 29' 10" (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/45 14 x 5"/51, 4 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3" +2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 34,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 915.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Naval Ship Yard, March 16, 1914. Launched June 19, 1915. Commissioned October 17, 1916. Decommissioned (War Loss). Stricken December 1, 1942.
Fate: Sunk by Japanese aircraft during attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7 1941. Arizona still rests in the berth where she sank. A Memorial to her crew was built over the wreck in 1962. 1,177 Officers and Men were lost with the ship and remain on duty inside her rusting hulk. The wreck is still bleeding fuel oil, more than 70 years after her sinking.
