Dozens of Illinoisans died at Pearl Harbor

It is known as “the day that will live in infamy.”

Like the rest of the nation, the people of Illinois felt the scars of Pearl Harbor, which left 2,403 Americans dead. Among them was Seaman 1st Class Louis Cabay of Joliet, who was just 18 years old. Cabay died on the USS Arizona, the ship most synonymous with Pearl Harbor.

Cabay was one of seven children of Czech immigrants who came to America to support the family through the difficulties of the Depression. Louis eventually left school and enrolled in the U.S. Navy in October 1940, 11 months before Pearl Harbor.

Another area casualty on the Arizona was Seaman 1st Class Thomas Powell, a 19-year-old La Salle native who had moved to Dixon earlier in his teenage years. He lived there with an aunt and uncle and attended Dixon High School before enlisting in the Navy in October 1940.

Ensign Edward Gosselin was a 24-year-old Joliet man on the USS Arizona. Gosselin had attended Yale before enlisting in the Navy in September 1940. Just before the day of the attack, he had been promoted to an officer in charge of the 90 men who operated the ship’s boilers, hydraulics and fuel supply.

The attack cut short Gosselin’s young life. Three years later, destroyer escort USS Gosselin was named after him.

Cabay, Powell and Gosselin were among 57 Illinoisans killed on the USS Arizona.

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Two Ottawa men lost their lives on the USS Arizona as well.

Marine Cpl. James McCarrens was the youngest of six siblings. McCarrens enlisted in the Marines at age 25 in September 1939.

hip’s Cook 3rd Class Herman Koeppe of Ottawa was 19 when he quit high school to enlist in the Navy in October 1940.

Leo Paul Cotner of the La Salle County village of Leonore enlisted in the Navy on March 11, 1941, just two months after his 17th birthday.

Cotner, a Seaman 2nd Class on the USS Nevada, was born in McLean County before moving in 1934 to Leonore, where he finished his grade school education at Shawback School. During a requiem Mass on Dec. 16, nine days after Pearl Harbor, the priest read portions of a letter he had received from Cotner.

Cotner was one of 50 killed aboard the Nevada. He was one of two family members on that ship, along with his older brother, Francis – although the family later received word of Francis’ survival.

Seaman 1st Class Steven Wodarski of Joliet was the son of Polish immigrants. He was 26 when he was among nearly 100 sailors who died aboard the USS California.

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Some families endured an agonizing wait for word on their loved ones’ fate. In DeKalb, the parents of Ensign Carl Swanson did not hear for days about the status of their son.

They received both a cablegram and an airmail letter.

At 1:30 a.m. Dec. 30, they were awakened by a phone call from Carl, who had arrived in San Francisco. The Daily Chronicle reported that “the voice of their son” at that early morning hour was “the most welcome and pleasant sound in the world.”

In Waterman, the parents of Gene MacDougal received a Yuletide gift. On Christmas Day, they received a cablegram from their son, who had been stationed on the USS Lexington, a carrier that was at sea during the attack. The Daily Chronicle wrote that Gene’s parents had not heard from him since the day of the bombing, “and his good wishes to them on Christmas helped to add a lot of cheer to their holiday.”

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For one resident of the DeKalb County village of Kingston, the long wait ended in sorrow. During the third week of January 1942, Charles Aves received word that his son, Willard, had died in the attack.

Willard Aves, a 20-year-old Fireman 2nd Class on the USS Arizona, had lost his mother at the age of 4 in 1925. He was well-known in the area as a newspaper delivery boy for the Daily Chronicle. Willard enlisted in the Navy four months after his high school graduation in 1940. American Legion Post 1010 in Kingston later was named in his honor.

Pearl Harbor left behind many widows and fatherless children. One was Gwendolyn Stephens, a young woman formerly of Marseilles, whose husband, W.W. Stephens, was killed on the USS Arizona.

29-year-old Petty Officer 1st Class Woodrow Wilson Stephens specialized as an electrician on the USS Arizona. He married Gwendolyn in 1938, and the couple later lived in Long Beach, California, before moving to Tillicum, Washington. He was survived by his wife and a 2-year-old child.

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The remains of U.S. servicemen still are being identified, 80 years later. Many were on the USS Oklahoma, which capsized during the attack, trapping dozens of men inside. About 400 of the victims had not been identified.

In 2015, the remains of many unknown victims aboard the USS Oklahoma were exhumed in Honolulu and identified with the latest forensic technology.

One was Petty Officer 3rd Class Adolph Loebach, a 22-year-old Peru man who had attended St. Mary Parochial School and La Salle-Peru High School. He then was employed by National Sheet Metal in Peru before enlisting in the Navy in 1939, just after his mother had passed away.

The government identified Loebach’s remains on July 2, 2019. An emotional service held Dec. 19 for Loebach at St. Anthony Church of the Nativity in Spring Valley concluded with him being buried near his parents in St. Vincent Cemetery in La Salle. Of Loebach’s seven siblings, only one yet survived at the time.

Another recently identified sailor from the USS Oklahoma was Fireman 1st Class Michael Galajdik, 25, who was born and raised in Joliet.

During the Great Depression, Galajdik had served in the Civilian Conservation Corps before enlisting in the Navy in April 1940, eight months before Pearl Harbor.

His remains were identified on April 14, 2017. Eight days later, he was laid to rest in Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.

Seaman 1st Class Robert Halterman of Elwood’s remains were identified in October 2021. Halterman was 20 when he died, and he now rests in Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

As of June 2021, the U.S. government had identified 338 of the remains of the unknown men on the Oklahoma, or about 86% of those the USS Oklahoma dead.

The Arizona and Oklahoma were among 19 U.S. ships either damaged or destroyed at Pearl Harbor. Navy men accounted for 2,008 of the American casualties in the attack.

In addition to the deaths, 1,178 American servicemen were wounded. A total of 159 U.S. planes were damaged in the bombing, while another 169 were destroyed.

• Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.