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Casualty Info
Home Town Elizabeth, LA
Last Address Elizabeth, LA (Father~William Alfred Ashmore)
Casualty Date Dec 07, 1941
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Hawaii
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment USS ARIZONA (BB-39) - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Wall/Plot Coordinates Entombed in the Hull of the Arizona
Military Service Number 2 746 513
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Seaman Second Class Wilburn James Ashmore (NSN 2746513) was Killed in Action on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was stationed aboard the USS Arizona BB39.
Comments/Citation:
Seaman/2c Wilburn J. Ashmore was born on July 05, 1917 in Natchitoches Parish in Louisiana to a local farmer, William Alfred Ashmore (1892-1972), and his wife, Ellen Cloud (1891-1988). He had six siblings of two brothers and four sisters: Millard B. (1913-1993), Edna (1915 -), Evie Lee (1920-1978), Bertie L. (1921-2008), Mary Helen (1924-2008), and Lavern (1926-2008).
He was employed by the Civilian Conservation Corps when he registered for the draft on Oct 16, 1940. He was also attending Southwestern Louisiana Institute as a freshman, as reflected in the college’s 1941 yearbook.
Ashmore enlisted in the Navy on June 17, 1941 in New Orleans, LA. He was transported onboard USS Wharton (AP7) from San Diego to Pearl Harbor before reporting for duty on USS Arizona (BB-39) on August 13, 1941. He was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class on October 17, 1941. The ship’s Report of Changes dated October 30, 1941, shows that Ashmore was scheduled to extend his Navy enlistment for another three years.
At the onset of the December 7, 1941 attack, the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) was moored at berth Fox 7 on “Battleship Row.” The repair ship Vestal (AR-4) was on the port side, and the starboard side faced the northeastern shore of Ford Island. Just before 8 am, the ship’s air raid alarm sounded and the crew was ordered to general quarters. During the attack the battleship was struck by as many as eight aerial bombs, including one 1,700 lb. armor-piercing shell which penetrated the deck near the Number 2 turret and detonated in the smokeless powder magazine, causing a “cataclysmic” explosion “which destroyed the ship forward” and ignited a fire which burned for two days. Most of the Arizona crewmen who perished in the attack died instantly during the explosion. The ship quickly sank to the bottom of the harbor along with 1,177 of the 1,512 personnel on board, representing about half the total number of Americans killed that day.
S2c Wilburn James Ashmore was lost in the attack on the USS Arizona (BB-39). Initially, he was reported as Missing in Action (MIA) and later was reported as Killed In Action (KIA). S2c Wilburn’s remains were never recovered and remain entombed on the USS Arizona among the 900+ souls still onboard. He was awarded a Purple Heart Medal and other awards posthumously. His name is engraved on the wall of the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor and also inscribed in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific located in Honolulu, Hawaii.
This information was researched and written on behalf of the USS Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.
Sources: US Census; Navy Muster Roll; Photo from SW Louisiana College
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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 email me by clicking on my name below.
Kevin McIntire - Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars
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.
