FREE-THOMAS

FATHER  AND  SON  DIED  ABOARD  USS  ARIZONA

During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the battleship USS ARIZONA (BB-39) was struck by a bomb which detonated in a forward powder magazine.  The violent explosion sunk the ship 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 and the wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1962, to all those who died during the attack.

There were thirty-seven sets of brothers aboard ARIZONA when it sank.  In addition, there was one father-and-son pair, Machinist Mate First Class Thomas Augusta Free and his son, Seaman Second Class William Thomas Free.  Unfortunately, both men were killed during the sinking.  Neither man’s body was identified during recovery efforts, and thus both are still entombed in the Arizona’s hull or are among the unidentified men buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in graves marked, “UNKNOWNS – USS ARIZONA – PEARL HARBOR – DECEMBER 7, 1941.”

Thomas Augusta Free was reportedly born on February 2, 1891, in Union Springs, Alabama.  Historical records reflect he entered the Navy from Houston, Texas, on December 22, 1917, and was assigned to USS ARIZONA on October 10, 1941.  His Navy records reflect his hometown was Navasota, Texas, and he was survived by his wife and a daughter.  The names of MM1 Thomas Augusta Free and his son, S2 William Thomas Free, are listed in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)