Name/Title
S2c E (Edward) C MorseDescription
E C Morse Cover Postmarked U.S.S. Arizona Sep 16. 1941
The Wakefield News of October 7, 1941 noted that Gordon Tressel, son of Dr. and Mrs. H.A.
Tressel, was spending his Army leave with his parents. The young man fresh from the big Army
games in Louisiana, is a member of the 7th Engineers, Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan.
Two months later Edward Charles Morse and Laddie James Willette perished aboard the U.S.S.
Arizona. Edward Charles Morse – Seaman Second Class, was born August 25, 1919. His father,
Edward Jack Morris, who lived on Bluff Street in Battle Creek was listed as his next of kin.
On December 7, 1941 Japanese aircraft flew over Pearl Harbor just before 8 a.m. The color detail was on deck to raise the flag at the stern at 8. The Arizona came under attack almost immediately, and by about 8:10 received a hit by an 800-kilogram bomb just forward of turret two on the starboard side. Within a few seconds the forward powder magazines exploded. This explosion gutted the forward part of the ship. The foremast and forward superstructure collapsed. Turrets one and two dropped more than twenty feet relative to their normal position. The explosion ignited furious fires in the forward part of the ship. The majority of the crew members were either killed by the explosion and fire or were trapped by the rapid sinking of the ship. 1,177 of the crew died on the ship.Created By
hawaiiancovers@gmail.comCreate Date
August 19, 2023Update Date
August 28, 2023
