Carl James Estep -- Highland Cemetery, Melissa TX - Graves Mentioning a Cause of Death on Waymarking.com

You never know what you will find in cemeteries.

The tombstone for Carl James Estep stands in the Estep family plot at peaceful Highland Cemetery, northeast of Melissa TX. It notes that he is entombed aboard the USS ARIZONA with 900 of his shipmates who died with him (and whose bodies also could not be recovered) during the attack on NAVBASE Pearl Harbor Hawaii on 7 Dec 1941, the "date that will live in infamy."

The tombstone reads as follows:

"In memory of
CARL JAMES ESTEP
1921-1941

Entombed on USS ARIZONA
Dec. 7 1941"

From the USS ARIZONA WEBSITE: (visit link)

"ESTEP, CARL JAMES
S1c, USN
KIA USS ARIZONA (BB 39) 7 Dec 1941

Branch: United States Navy

Service Number: 356 31 39
Rate: S1/c (Seaman First Class)

Duties: Know naval drill duties, knots, steering and signaling. Stand watch and gunnery duties.

Enlisted: 30 July 1940

Place: Dallas, Texas

Onboard USS Arizona: 14 October 1940

From: NRS Bremerton, Washington

Date of Birth: Abt 1915

Place of Birth: New York

Hometown / State December 1941: Anna, Texas

Next of Kin: Mr. P. E. Estep - Father

Address: Anna, Texas

Disposition: Unrecoverable – Among the 900+ souls still onboard the USS Arizona

Posthumous Awards: Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal w/Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/Star, WWII Victory Medal"

Blasterz, Navy veterans of the Persian Gulf War, are glad the Navy made posthumous awards of the WWII Victory Medal and the other campaign medals. S1/C Estep earned those, and we hope they brought comfort to his family.

We left pennies to show some shipmates visited.

Type of Death Listed: Killed by something Website (if available): [Web Link] Cause of death inscription on headstone: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   12/03/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it