Daniel Kramer graduated from Dubuque Senior High School and attended the University of Iowa. He enlisted in the Naval reserve on Labor Day weekend 1940 and trained at Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago and was sent to Hawaii where he was an ensign on the USS California.
Francis Riley, 93, was a signal man on the USS Vestal which was tied up alongside the USS Arizona in preparation to install radar on the battleship.
He was living in Cedar Rapids, when he joined the Navy at age 18, on January 2, 1941. He also trained at Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago.
The Arizona's explosion blew the Vestal's captain, Cassin Young, overboard, but he got back on his ship. The vestal got underway, but grounded at Aiea Bay. Young was awarded the Medal of Honor for his role at Pearl Harbor, but was later killed at Guadalcanal.
Riley later served in Italy, France and England. He was at the Battle of Casablanca and present at Bikini Atoll for nuclear testing.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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