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Casualty Info
Home Town Mitchell, IA
Last Address Mitchell, IA
Casualty Date Dec 07, 1941
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Hawaii
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery - Osage, Iowa
Military Service Number 3 214 207
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Navy Seaman 1st Class Leon Arickx, killed during the attack on the USS Oklahoma in World War II, has now been accounted for on Feb 2, 2018.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Arickx was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Arickx.
In 2015, DPAA disinterred remains from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu..
Interment services are pending; more details will be released 7-10 days prior to scheduled funeral services.
Arickx's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Seaman First Class Leon P. Arickx KIA USS Oklahoma
Leon Paul Arickx was born on December 28, 1918 in New London, Kandiyohi county, Minnesota. His family had been living in Austin, Mower County, Minnesota, and they moved to Mitchell County, Minnesota soon after he was born. They were a family of farmers. His parents, Charles Louis Arickx and Erma Marie Vergate, had been born in Belgium. He was one of the 3 sons in his family. They also had 5 daughters, one who had died in childbirth.
In a scrapbook, a family member said, "He worked hard and his high spirit and ready smile let you know he loved to play hard, too. He loved to dance and spent many nights in the ballrooms around Austin, Minnesota." His niece, Mary Galey, said he was a jokester, who loved to tease all his family members. He joined the US Navy on May 7, 1940.
He had enlisted in the Navy. Served during World War II. He had the rank of Enlisted and was a Seaman First Class. His Service number was 3214207 and he served aboard the USS Oklahoma.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, a fleet of Japanese carriers launched an air strike against the U.S. Pacific Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The attack decimated the ships and personnel of the fleet and thrust the United States into World War II. At the onset of the 7 December 1941 attack, the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37), being moored at berth Fox 5 on “Battleship Row.” Just before 8 am, the Oklahoma was among the first of the ships struck in the attack. 9 torpedoes hit the Oklahoma, each on her port side, because of her position in the harbor. The torpedoes struck higher on the port side as she capsized. Heroic efforts were made to rescue the trapped men inside the hull. After 3 days, 32 men were rescued. After the Arizona, she was the largest loss of life, at 429 sailors and marines. The Oklahoma was salvaged in 1942, but it was determined she could not be repaired. In May of 1947, she was sold for scrap and while under tow to California, she sank in a storm. Her exact location remains unknown to this day.
Arickx was reported missing and ultimately declared dead on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On January 30, 2018 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced his remains had been identified through DNA and other forensic analysis. On 07 July 2018, S1c Leon Paul Arickx was buried with full military honors in Sacred Heart Cemetery located in Osage, Mitchell County, Iowa. He is also memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, located in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location.
******** 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 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 person’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.
marykake47286 - Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Attack on Pearl Harbor
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Description The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940,[19] disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
From the 1950s, several writers alleged that parties high in the U.S. and British governments knew of the attack in advance and may have let it happen (or even encouraged it) with the aim of bringing the U.S. into war. However, this advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is rejected by mainstream historians.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember Marvin B. Adkins, GM3c Willard H. Aldridge, Sea1c Hugh R. Alexander, Lt. Comdr Stanley W. Allen, Ens (VO-1) Hal J. Allison, F2c Leon Arickx, Sea1c Kenneth B. Armstrong, Mldr1c Daryle E. Artley, QM2c John C. Auld, Sea2c John A. Austin, Chf Carp Walter H. Backman, RM2c Gerald J. Bailey, Sea1c Robert E. Bailey, SF3c Wilbur F. Ballance, Sea1c Layton T. Banks, Cox Leroy K. Barber, F1c Malcolm J. Barber, F1c Randolph H. Barber, F2c Cecil E. Barncord, EM3c Wilber C. Barrett, Sea2c Harold E. Bates, F1c Ralph C. Battles, F2c Earl P. Baum, Sea1c Howard W. Bean, RM3c Walter S. Belt, Jr., F1c Robert J. Bennett, F3c Harding C. Blackburn, Y3c William E. Blanchard, Bmkr1c Clarence A. Blaylock, F3c Leo Blitz, MM2c Rudolph Blitz, F1c John G. Bock Jr., Sea2c Paul L. Boemer, Cox James B. Booe, Cbmster James B. Boring, F2c Ralph M. Boudreaux, MAtt1c Lawrence A. Boxrucker, F2c Raymond D. Boynton, Sea2c Carl M. Bradley, F2c Orix V. Brandt, Sea1c Jack A. Breedlove, FC3c Randall W. Brewer, MAtt1c William Brooks, Sea1c Wesley J. Brown, F1c William G. Bruesewitz, Sea1c James R. Buchanan, MM2c Earl G. Burch, Bkr3c Oliver K. Burger, WT1c Millard Burk, Jr., Sea1c Rodger C. Butts, SC1c Archie Callahan, Jr., MAtt2c Raymond R. Camery, F1c William V. Campbell, Sea2c Murry R. Cargile, Sea1c Harold F. Carney, MM1c Joseph W. Carroll, F2c Edward E. Casinger, F2c Biacio Casola, Sea1c Carles R. Casto, F1c Richard E. Casto, F2c James T. Chesire, CPhM(PA) Patrick L. Chess, SF3c David Clark, Jr., Sea2c Gerald L. Clayton, SK2c Hubert P. Clement, FC1c Floyd F. Clifford, Sea2c George A. Coke, Sea1c James E. Collins, Sea1c John G. Connolly, Chf Pay Clk Keefe R. Connolly, HA1c Edward L. Conway, EM1c Grant C. Cook, Jr., F1c Robert L. Corn, FFC1c Beoin H. Corzatt, F1c John W. Craig, SK1c Warren H. Crim, F3c Samuel W. Crowder, F1c William M. Curry, EM1c Glenn G. Cyriack, SK2c Marshall E. Darby, Jr., Ens James W. Davenport, Jr., F1c Francis D. Day, CWT (PA) Leslie P. Delles, EM3c Ralph A. Derrington, CMM (PA) Francis E. Dick, Mus2c Leaman R. Dill, EM2c Kenneth E. Doernenburg, F1c John M. Donald, SF3c Carl D. Dorr, F2c Bernard V. Doyle, Sea2c Stanislaw F. Drwall, Pmkr1c Cyril I. Dusset, MAtt1c Buford H. Dyer, Sea1c Wallace E. Eakes, SK3c Eugene K. Eberhardt, MM1c David B. Edmonston, Sea2c Earl M. Ellis, RM3c Bruce H. Ellison, RM3c Julius Ellsberry, MAtt1c John C. England, Ens Ignacio C. Farfan, MAtt1c Luther J. Farmer, MM1c Lawrence H. Fecho, F1c Charlton H. Ferguson, Mus2c Robert A. Fields, EM3c William M. Finnegan, Ens Francis C. Flaherty, Ens James M. Flanagan, Sea2c Felicismo Florese, OS2c Walter C. Foley, Sea1c George P. Foote, SK3c George C. Ford, F2c Joy C. French, Sea2c Tedd M. Furr, CCM (AA) Michael Galajdik, F1c Martin A. Gara, F2c Jesus F. Garcia, MAtt2c Eugene Garris, MAtt2c Paul H. Gebser, MM1c Leonard R. Geller, F1c George T. George, Sea2c George H. Gibson, EM3c George E. Giesa, F2c Quentin J. Gifford, RM2c George Gilbert, FC2c Warren C. Gillette, Sea1c Benjamin E. Gilliard, MAtt1c Arthur Glenn, MM1c Daryl H. Goggin, Mach Jack R. Goldwater, RM3c Charles C. Gomez, Jr., Sea2c George M. Gooch, EM3c Clifford G. Goodwin, Sea1c Robert Goodwin, SC3c Duff Gordon, CMsmth Claude O. Gowey, F1c Wesley E. Graham, Sea1c Arthur M. Grand Pre, F1c Thomas E. Griffith, RM3c Edgar D. Gross, WT2c Vernon N. Grow, Sea2c Daniel L. Guisinger, Jr., Sea1c William I. Gurganus, CEM (AA) William F. Gusie, FC3c Hubert P. Hall, Sea2c Robert E. Halterman, Sea1c Harold W. Ham, MM2c Dale R. Hamlin, GM3c Eugene P. Hann, GM3c Francis L. Hannon, SF3c George Hanson, MM1c Robert J. Harr, F1c Charles H. Harris, EM3c Daniel F. Harris, CFC (PA) Louis E. Harris, Jr., Mus2c Albert E. Hayden, CEM (PA) Harold L. Head, Sea2c Robert W. Headington, Sea1c William F. Hellstern, GM2c Floyd D. Helton, Sea2c Jimmie L. Henrichsen, Sea2c William E. Henson, Jr., Sea2c Harvey C. Herber, EM1c George Herbert, GM1c Austin H. Hesler, SM3c Denis H. Hiskett, F1c Joseph P. Hittorff, Jr., Ens Frank S. Hoag, Jr., RM3c Herbert J. Hoard, CSK (PA) Joseph W. Hoffman, Mus1c Kenneth L. Holm, F3c Harry R. Holmes, F3c James W. Holzhauer, Sea1c Edwin C. Hopkins, F3c Chester G. Hord, SK3c Frank A. Hryniewicz, Sea1c Charles E. Hudson, WT1c Lorentz E. Hultgren, MM2c Robert M. Hunter, Ens Claydon I. C. Iverson, F3c Willie Jackson, OC1c Herbert B. Jacobson, F3c Challis R. James, Sea2c George W. Jarding, F3c Kenneth L. Jayne, F3c Theodore Q. Jensen, RM3c Jesse B. Jenson, GM3c Charles H. Johannes, Sea2c Billy J. Johnson, F1c Edward D. Johnson, F1c Joseph M. Johnson, Sea1c Jim H. Johnston, F1c Charles A. Jones, Sea2c Fred M. Jones, MM1c Jerry Jones, MAtt3c Julian B. Jordan, Lt. Wesley V. Jordan, Sea1c Thomas V. Jurashen, Sea2c Albert U. Kane, F1c John A. Karli, Sea1c Howard V. Keffer, RM3c Ralph H. Keil, Sea1c Donald G. Keller, Sea1c Joe M. Kelley, Sea2c Warren J. Kempf, RM3c Leo T. Keninger, F1c William H. Kennedy, F1c Elmer T. Kerestes, F1c David L. Kesler, Bkr2c William A. Klasing, EM3c Verne F. Knipp, Cox Hans C. Kvalnes, Sea2c William L. Kvidera, CM3c D. T. Kyser, Sea2c Elliott D. Larsen, Mus1c Johnnie C. Laurie, MAtt1c Elmer P. Lawrence, Sea1c Willard I. Lawson, F3c Gerald G. Lehman, F3c Myron K. Lehman, Sea2c Lionel W. Lescault, Bgmstr2c Harold W. Lindsey, Sea2c John H. Lindsley, F3c Alfred E. Livingston, F3c Clarence M. Lockwood, WT2c Adolph J. Loebach, FC3c Vernon T. Luke, MM1c Octavius Mabine, MAtt1c Howard S. Magers, Sea2c Michael Malek, Sea2c Algeo V. Malfante, SF2c Walter B. Manning, EM1c Henri C. Mason, Mus1c Joseph K. Maule, Sea1c Edwin B. McCabe WT1c Donald R. McCloud, FC2c James O. McDonald, F1c Bert E. McKeeman, F1c Hale McKissack, Sea1c Lloyd E. McLaughlin, Sea2c Earl R. Melton, MM1c Herbert F. Melton, BM2c Archie T. Miles, MM2c Wallace G. Mitchell, Sea1c Charles A. Montgomery, RM3c John M. Mulick, HA1c Ray H. Myers, Sea2c George E. Naegle, Sea1c Elmer D. Nail, F1c Paul A. Nash, FC1c Don O. Neher, EM3c Arthur C. Neuenschwander, GM1c Sam D. Nevill, Y3c Wilbur F. Newton, Sea1c Carl Nichols, Sea2c Harry E. Nichols, SK3c Frank E. Nicoles, F1c Arnold M. Nielsen, BM1c Laverne A. Nigg, Sea2c Joe R. Nightingale, Sea1c Charles E. Nix, SM3c Camillus M. O'Grady, Sea1c Charles R. Ogle, F1c Eli Olsen, SK3c Jarvis G. Outland, F1c Lawrence J. Overley, FC2c Alphard S. Owsley, EM3c Millard C. Pace, F1c James Palides, Jr., Mus2c Calvin H. Palmer, Sea2c Wilferd D. Palmer, Sea2c George L. Paradis, PhM3c Isaac Parker, MAtt3c Dale F. Pearce, Sea2c Walter R. Pentico, Sea2c Stephen Pepe, WT1c Charles F. Perdue, SF1c Wiley J. Perway, Bmkr2c Milo E. Phillips, WT1c James N. Phipps, Sea2c Gerald H. Pirtle, F1c Rudolph V. Piskuran, Sea2c Herbert J. Poindexter, Jr., Sea1c Brady O. Prewitt, Sea2c Robert L. Pribble, FC3c George F. Price, F1c Lewis B. Pride, Jr., Ens Jasper L. Pue, Jr., F3c Paul S. Raimond, Sea1c Eldon C. Ray, SK3c Dan E. Reagan, F1c Leo B. Regan, F1c Irvin F. Rice, RM3c Porter L. Rich, WT2c Clyde Ridenour, Jr., RM3c David J. Riley, Sea2c Russell C. Roach, Sea1c Joseph M. Robertson, Sea2c Harold W. Roesch, Sea1c Walter B. Rogers, F1c Joseph C. Rouse, Sea1c Charles L. Ruse, Mus2c Edmund T. Ryan, Y3c Roman W. Sadlowski, EM3c Kenneth H. Sampson, Sea1c Dean S. Sanders, CMM (PA) Charles L. Saunders, Sea2c Lyal J. Savage, Sea1c John E. Savidge, Sea1c Paul E. Saylor, F1c Walter F. Schleiter, F1c Herman Schmidt, GM3c Aloysius H. Schmitt, Lt. (jg) (ChC) Andrew J. Schmitz, F1c John H. Schoonover, PhM1c Bernard O. Scott, MAtt1c Chester E. Seaton, F1c Verdi D. Sederstrom, Ens William L. Sellon, Sea2c Everett I. Severinson, SF1c William K. Shafer, F2c William J. Shanahan, Jr., SM3c Edward J. Shelden, FC1c William G. Silva, GM1c Eugene M. Skaggs, SM1c Garold L. Skiles, Sea2c Edward F. Slapikas, Sea1c Leonard F. Smith, Msmth1c Merle A. Smith, EM3c Rowland H. Smith, Mus1c Walter H. Sollie, WT1c James C. Solomon, Sea1c Maurice V. Spangler, Sea1c Kirby R. Stapleton, Sea1c Ulis C. Steely, MM1c Walter C. Stein, Sea1c Samuel C. Steiner, F1c Charles M. Stern, Jr., Ens Everett R. Stewart, MM2c Lewis S. Stockdate, Ens Donald A. Stott, Sea1c Robert T. Stout, FC3c James Stouten, CBM (AA) Milton R. Surratt, Sea1c Charles H. Swanson, MM1c Edward E. Talbert, Sea1c Rangner F. Tanner, Jr., Sea2c Monroe Temple, Sea1c Houston Temples, Sea1c Benjamin C. Terhune, F2c Arthur R. Thinnes, Sea2c Charles W. Thompson, F1c Clarence Thompson, SC1c George A. Thompson, Sea2c Irvin A. R. Thompson, Ens William M. Thompson, Ens Richard J. Thomson, Sea2c Cecil H. Thornton, Sea2c Robert L. Thrombley, Sea2c David F. Tidball, Sea1c Lloyd R. Timm, Sea2c Lewis F. Tindall, F1c Dante S. Tini, RM3c Henry G. Tipton, Sea1c Everett C. Titterington, F1c Neal K. Todd, F1c Natale I. Torti, Sea1c Orval A. Tranbarger, Sea1c Harold F. Trapp, FC2c William H. Trapp, EM3c Shelby Treadway, GM3c William D. Tucker, F1c Victor P. Tumlinson, FC3c Billy Turner, Sea1c Louis J. Tushla, F1c Russell O. Ufford, Sea2c Lowell E. Valley, F2c Durrell Wade, AMM2c Lewis L. Wagoner, Sea2c Harry E. Walker, SK1c Robert N. Walkowiak, F3c Eugene A. Walpole, Sea2c Charles E. Walters, Sea2c James R. Ward, Sea1c Edward Wasielewski, Sea1c Richard L. Watson, Sea1c James C. Webb, F1c William E. Welch, Sea1c Alfred F. Wells, MM1c Ernest R. West, Sea1c John D. Wheeler, F2c Claude White, CWT (PA) Jack D. White, Sea1 Alton W. Whitson, EM3c Eugene W. Wicker, Sea1c Lloyd P. Wiegand, Mus2c George J. Wilcox, Jr., Sea2c Albert l. Williams, Mus2c James C. Williams, Sea1c Wilbur S. Williams, OS3c Bernard R. Wimmer, FC1c Everett G. Windle, Sea2c Starring B. Winfield, RM3c Rex E. Wise, F1c Frank Wood, Sea2c Lawrence E. Woods, F1c Winfred O. Woods, MM1c Creighton H. Workman, F1c John L. Wortham, GM2c Paul R. Wright, CWT (PA) Eldon P. Wyman, Ens Martin D. Young, F2c Robert V. Young, Sea1c Joseph J. Yurko, WT1c Thomas Zvansky, CSM (PA)
