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| Seaman 2/c Howard Rosenau was on the USS Curtiss when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Painting by Tom Freeman. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25763989/howard-a.-rosenau https://ehangar.com/forum/reviews-comments-and-questions/pearl-harbor-images |
Howard Arthur Rosenau never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on June 28, 1918 in Idaho. His parents Arthur and Freida were born in Minnesota and Idaho, respectively. Howard's paternal grandparents were from Germany. His father worked as a farmer. Howard had three older sisters and two younger brothers.
He enlisted in the US Navy in March 1941. He became a seaman second class serving on the seaplane tender USS Curtiss which was brand new, having been commissioned in November 1940. It was sent to Pearl Harbor in May 1941.
During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Curtiss got underway and fired upon a mini-sub it spotted in the harbor. It also fired on attacking planes. One plane crashed into its #1 crane and a Japanese bomb hit the ship and exploded below decks. Nineteen men, including Seaman Rosenau, were killed during the attack. The ship was saved and was active in the Pacific through the war. It was hit by a kamikaze plane at Okinawa in June 1945.
Seaman Rosenau's grave is at St Johns Lutheran Cemetery in Genesee, Idaho.
Last year on this date I profiled Van Payne, 90th Infantry Division. You can read about Van here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
This is my Great Great Uncle Howard. His older sister Verona was my Great Grandmother. Thank you for your project and highlighting these American Heroes.
ReplyDeleteThanks. His story can also be found here: https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ROHSBV&type=Person&ID=230529
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