USS Arizona Survivor John Anderson Dies-- Part 1: On the Ship with His Twin Brother

From the Nov. 18, 2015, Twin Cities.com (Minnesota)  "former Minnesotan, oldest survivor of USS Arizona attack, dies at 98" by Helmut Schmidt.

John Anderson was born in Verona, North Dakota and had a twin brother named Jake.  The family moved to Dilworth, Minnesota, where they grew up.  John was one of 355 survivors of the Arizona that day.  His twin brother Jake was one of the 1,177 who did not.  He is also one of the 900 still entombed in the ship.

John began his Navy career on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, then served on a destroyer.  In 1940, he was transferred to the USS Arizona where he joined his twin brother Jake.  Both were turret gunners, though on different turrets.  John also had the additional duty of setting up chairs for Sunday morning worship and had just finished and was eating breakfast when the attack began.

--GreGen