Moose Jaw Man Killed on the USS Arizona
Many Moose Jaw people have travelled to Hawaii and visited the Memorial to the men who died aboard the USS Arizona. One of the men was U.S. Navy Fireman Second Class, Roger J. Bergin of Moose Jaw.
He was the son of Frederick Austin Bergin and Marian Bickel Bergin and was born in 1916 in North Dakota. The family settled in Moose Jaw in 1918 but during the tough times of the Dirty Thirties his father often went to Deepwater, North Dakota to work.
From American Naval Records, Roger is listed as Canadian and Hometown, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
Roger’s body was neve recovered. He is entombed in the hull of the USS Arizona
Roger Joseph Bergin, Fireman Second Class # 3115165, United States Navy
Naval Attacks
The British and American Navy rarely announced naval losses at the time they were incurred. News of losses took months to reach news reports.
On Saturday, December 13, 1941 the Moose Jaw Times Herald ran a Canadian Press story, released through Reuters, about the naval losses based on a Japanese communique from Tokyo. The Japanese claimed to have sunk the 32,600-ton battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbour.
The Japanese also claimed the sinking of the American battleships the Oklahoma and the West Virginia in the same action.
The published communique also “… confirmed that a large British destroyer had been sunk during the same battle in which the British Battleship Prince of Wales and the Battle Cruiser Repulse were sent to the bottom off Malaya.
“A British torpedo boat, a gunboat and three merchant ships were claimed to have been destroyed Thursday in an attack on the British crown colony of Hong Kong.”
The Japanese Navy was moving swiftly to consolidate captured territory.
Details About Moose Jaw Man Killed at Pearl Harbour
Information about the death of former Moose Jaw resident Roger Joseph Bergin did not appear in the Moose Jaw Times Herald until February 5, 1942, almost two months later. The story is as follows:
“Roger J. Bergin of City Killed at Pearl Harbor
“A.F. Bergin Notified by U.S. Navy Department of Son’s Death on December 7, 1941
“A.F. Bergin, of this city (Moose Jaw) has received official word from the Navy Department in Washington D.C., that his son, Roger Joseph Bergin, fireman, second class, of the United States Navy, was killed while on duty in the Pacific area, on December 7, 1941.
“Roger Bergin was born in the U.S.A. and came to Moose Jaw with his parents in 1917, being one-year-old at the time. He attended St. Agnes separate school and finished his high school education near Detroit Michigan, where he went some seven years ago to reside with his grandfather. He enlisted in the United States Navy on October 4, 1940.
“To mourn his loss Roger Bergin leaves his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Bergin, four brothers, Kenneth and Marvin with the Canadian Army overseas; Leroy and Frederick at the parental home in this city, one sister, Evelyn, resides in Ontario.”
His brother Kenneth was captured by the Germans in 1944 and sent to a POW Camp. He was liberated by the Russians and went back to Britain by way of Odessa.
The 1940 Henderson Directory show’s Roger J. Bergin’s father, A.F. Bergin as the owner a home at 1224 Coteau Street West, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
USS Arizona
Additional Information
On May 15, 1945 the Globe and Mail newspaper printed the U.S. Navy Casualty List for Dec. 7, 1941 and April 15, 1942. It included 3 Canadians:
Bergin, Roger Joseph, fireman, second class; father lives in Moose. Jaw, Saskatchewan – Killed December 7, 1941.
Ellis, Francis Arnold Jr., electrician’s mate, third class: father lives in Winnipeg
Lang, Earl Willard, radioman, second class; father lives in Simpson, Saskatchewan
Petty Officer Second Class Earl Willard Lang, # 3286168 was born in Simpson, Saskatchewan and enlisted in Minnesota. He was declared Missing in Action and declared dead on December 8, 1941 as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbour.
