World War II
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Fallen
Circumstances:
Killed in action aboard the USS Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Biography:
Marine 2nd Lieutenant Carleton Elliott "Sim" Simensen was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
He was mortally wounded in the chest by shrapnel or bullets while leading Marines up the ladders on the U.S.S. Arizona's tripod mainmast. He'd been on the Arizona less than six months when he was killed on Dec. 7, 1941. He is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Mr. Simensen was born Jan. 25, 1919, in Grandin, North Dakota. His father, Carl, was secretary and treasurer of the national Farm and Home Administration office at Devils Lake, North Dakota, and his mother, Mabel, was a homemaker.
Carleton graduated from Grandin High in 1936 and then from the University of North Dakota in 1940 with a degree in commerce. He played varsity basketball and participated in Blue Key service fraternity, Iron Mask honorary fraternity and the Scabbard and Blade military fraternity. At graduation, he was commissioned a second lieutenant. He then attended Marine training in Philadelphia before becoming a recruiter in Minneapolis. He was assigned to the Arizona in the summer of 1941.
He is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. VFW Post 756 in Devils Lake was named in his honor. The University of North Dakota's military history collection, dating to 1862, is named in his memory.
A younger brother, Kenneth, served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.