World War II Honoree

John Virgel Zeiler

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Holyoke, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Seaman First Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy October 1, 1940 at Denver, Colorado, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station San Diego, California. Served aboard the USS Arizona Battleship, BB-39 and based at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. On Sunday Morning, December 7, 1941 the Emperor of Japan’s Naval Aviators launched a devastating, surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base, and other military installations on Oahu. The Arizona moored on Ford Island along with her shipmates came under attack, and she was mortally wounded by an armor piercing bomb that ignited the ship’s forward ammunition magazine. The Battle of Pearl Harbor took his life on the day of the attack. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.