William Eugene Seely was born October 8, 1922, and as a Groton boy who attended Pleasant Valley School and Robert E. Fitch High School. Those who knew him remembered that he worked after school in a hardware store on Thames Street and went to Sunday School at the Groton Heights Baptist Church. On his 18th birthday in 1940 he enlisted in the United States Navy. He was stationed aboard the battleship USS Arizona.
Fourteen months later, on December 7, 1941, William Seely was among the 1,177 men killed on the Arizona. He was the first Groton resident to give his life in the war. He rests aboard the battleship along with more than 1,100 fellow sailors who lost their lives that day.
He was serving on that vessel when the Japanese, though still negotiating for peace with the White House, carried out a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor without an official declaration of war. More than 350 aircraft from six Japanese aircraft carriers struck the United States Naval Base, hoping to neutralize the United States Pacific fleet, leaving them free to proceed with plans to conquer southeast Asia. (From The Day Publishing Company New London)
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Recently An Event About The Upcoming 75th Anniversary Of Pearl Harbor Was Held By The Iwo Jima/World War II Traveling Museum At The Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington. Here is the USS Arizona Information:
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Here is the list of the Connecticut casualties at Pearl Harbor. Ten of the 18 men from CT that died at Pearl Harbor were serving on the USS Arizona (BB-39) and are still interred there.
