Daniel T Griffin - First American Casualty of WWII

Daniel T Griffin headstone front

Daniel Griffin was born on March 25, 1911 in Allendale, IL to the Reverend Pearl D. Griffin and his wife Pernia. Pearl was a traveling minister so Daniel spent many of his early years moving from town to town. Finally the family settled in Colorado Springs. Before enlisting in the US Navy he was employed at the Gazette & Telegraph Co. in Colorado Springs.

Daniel enlisted in the United States Navy on October 6, 1930. After basic training he went on to serve aboard the battleships USS California BB-44, USS Tennessee BB-43, and the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga CV-3. At a point during his career he decided that he wanted to become a pilot and in 1938 Daniel graduated flight school as an Aviation Machinist Mate Second Class (AMM2) Naval Aviation Pilot. Daniel was then sent to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to fly patrol missions aboard PBY (flying boat) aircraft. In March of 1941 he transferred to Kaneohe Bay with Patrol Squadron 12. In October 1941 Daniel re-enlisted.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Daniel was standing routine watch at Kaneohe Naval Air Station. His PBY was at the ready; sitting in the bay with two of the four crew members already on board. When Daniel saw the Japanese planes approaching the base, he realized that they were not from the United States military. Daniel called out to the crew members on board the plane to start the engines as he began to swim out to the PBY. Daniel settled into the pilot's seat and began to taxi the plane for takeoff. Daniel’s PBY was hit by Japanese gunfire just as he became airborne. It caught fire and sank in Kaneohe Bay where, according to the University of Hawaii and East Carolina University, it still rests today. Daniel was badly burned but managed to escape the plane and attempt to swim back to shore. The Japanese planes continued strafing the Kaneohe Bay waters with machine gunfire. Daniel sustained a bullet wound to the head, killing him instantly. It is believed that Daniel was the first serviceman to die at Kaneohe Bay that day.

Daniel T Griffin headstone rear

On December 12, the Kaneohe police called the base to report that a body had washed ashore. Daniel T. Griffin was identified and pronounced dead. Daniel was buried in a temporary grave on the north shore of Kaneohe Island with several other servicemen who perished during the attack. His body was later exhumed and reinterred at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, CO.

His commission to ensign arrived at the base two weeks after his death.

On February 5, 1943, Daniel’s widow Lucille had the honor of christening the destroyer escort USS Daniel T. Griffin (DE-54).

Per his father's obituary, Daniel T. Griffin is believed to have been the first American casualty of WWII.

Daniel is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado.