EARLY LIFE

Daniel Edward Lisenby was born on March 30, 1921 in Huston County Alabama. His father was Daniel Smitson Lisenby (1892-1969) and his mother was Cassie Jane Murphy Lisenby (1891-1978), both were born in Alabama. Daniel Smitson was a farmer and Cassie Jane was a homemaker. The family consisted of mom and dad with three sons and a daughter. The children’s names were Lois, Herbert, Daniel and Horace.

MILITARY

Daniel Edward Lisenby enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on December 12, 1939 in Birmingham, Alabama. His service number was #2722534. His rank was Seaman First Class (S1c) whose duties include naval drills, knot tying, steering, signaling, standing watch and gunnery duties. He served the battleship USS Arizona.

DEATH

The following is an account of the Japanese attack on the USS Arizona:

On the morning of 7 December 1941, a fleet of Japanese carriers launched an air strike against the U.S. Pacific Fleet at anchor in Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The attack decimated the ships and personnel of the fleet and thrust the United States into World War II. At the onset of the 7 December 1941 attack, the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) was moored at berth Fox 7 on “Battleship Row.” The repair ship Vestal (AR-4) was on the port side; and the starboard side faced the northeastern shore of Ford Island. Just before 8 am, the ship’s air raid alarm was sounded and the crew was ordered to general quarters. During the attack the battleship was struck by as many as eight aerial bombs, including one 1,700-lb armor-piercing shell which penetrated the deck near the Number 2 Turret and detonated in the smokeless powder magazine, causing a “cataclysmic” explosion “which destroyed the ship forward” and ignited a fire which burned for two days. Most of the Arizona crewmen who perished in the attack died instantly during the explosion. The ship quickly sank to the bottom of the harbor along with 1,177 of the 1,512 personnel on board, representing about half the total number of Americans killed that day.

S1c Daniel Edward Lisenby was among the 1,177 people who were killed in action aboard the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

POST DEATH EVENTS

S1c Daniel Edward Lisenby is memorialized at Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. His body has not been recovered.

The family received a telegram notifying them of Daniel’s death on December 21, 1941.

Daniel’s brothers also served in WWII. Herbert served in the Navy as a cook between 1942 and 1945. Horace was a pharmacist’s mate in the navy.

Thank you, Daniel, for your sacrifice and service! You will not be forgotten!

COMMENDATIONS

World War II Victory Medal

Purple Heart

Combat Action Ribbon

American Campaign Medal

Navy Presidential Unit Citation

Navy Good Conduct Medal

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal

Navy Expeditionary Medal

SOURCES

Findagrave.com

Fold3.com

Ancestry.com

Honorstates.org

Familysearch.org

https://pearlharbor.org/facts-uss-arizona-bb-39/

http://www.ibiblio.org/phha/arizona/history.html#pearlharbor

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.