Seaman Herbert Curtis was Killed in Action on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was stationed on board the USS California (BB-44).

EARLY YEARS
Herbert Smith Curtis Jr. was born in Mayfield, Montgomery Mississippi on July 30, 1919. His parents were Herbert S. Curtis Sr. (1890-1961) and Frances R. Johnson (1892-1941), both born in Mississippi. Herbert Sr. worked as a barber, but his primary work was farming. Frances (Frankie) was a homemaker. The family had three children: Elizabeth, Herbert Jr. and Johnson Powell. Herbert Jr. graduated from Mississippi’s Kilmichael High School, Class of 1940.

MILITARY
Herbert Smith Curtis Jr. enlisted in the US Navy on October 2, 1940 in New Orleans. His service number was #2745191. His rank was Seaman 2nd Class. He served at the Naval Station at San Diego, Calif., and aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma before being reassigned to the U.S.S. California. He had been promoted to Seaman 2nd Class. He started his service on the USS California on November 11, 1940. Herbert’s military records list his religion as Protestant.

DEATH
Sea2c Herbert Smith Curtis Jr. killed in action on December 7, 1941 aboard the USS California which was docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese attacked the military base and ships in the harbor. The following is a description of the attack on the USS California:
USS California (BB-44), flagship of the Battle Force, was hit forward and aft by two Japanese torpedoes in the early minutes of the Pearl Harbor raid. She was later hit by a bomb and near-missed by another, which caused additional flooding. Though her design included very good protection against underwater damage, California's actual condition was much less satisfactory, with many watertight compartments open and some design details proving unable to resist the effects of torpedo warheads.
California had steam up and was nearly ready to get underway when a large mass of burning oil, drifting down "Battleship Row", threatened to set the ship afire. She was ordered abandoned, and, when the crew returned on board sometime later, it was impossible to control her flooding. Despite strenuous efforts, she slowly settled to the bottom of Pearl Harbor, coming to rest on 10 December. The battleship was raised in March 1942 and received repairs and modernization work that lasted until January 1944, over two years after she was sunk. Nearly a hundred of her officers and men were killed in action during the Pearl Harbor attack. (Naval History and Heritage Command-The USS California During the Attack)

POST DEATH EVENTS
The body of Sea2c Herbert Smith Curtis Jr. had originally been interred in Hawaii, but was re-interred at Bethel Methodist Cemetery, Montgomery Co., Mississippi. in October of 1947.
Curtis’ younger brother, Johnson Powell enlisted in the Navy on December 14, 1941 just seven days after his brother had been killed. Johnson Powell served in the Navy until his release on October 10, 1945.
Sea2c Herbert Smith Curtis Jr., thank you for your service and sacrifice! You will not be forgotten!

COMMENDATIONS
Purple Heart
Combat Action Ribbon
World War II Victory Medal
American Campaign Medal
Navy Presidential Unit Citation
Navy Good Conduct Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Navy Expeditionary Medal

SOURCES
https://www.history.navy.mil
Honorstates.org
Ancestry.com
Familysearch.org
Newspapers.com
Fold3.com
Togetherweserved.com
Findagrave.com

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

This story was written by Kathleen Reber, a Stories Behind the Stars contributor.

If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please click HERE to email Together We Served directly.

Curtis, Herbert Smith, S2c