In the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, by the Japanese, which propelled the U.S. into World War II, seventeen servicemen from Connecticut were lost.
They were: Lt. j.g. Eric Allen, Darien; Henry Carlson, Norwich; Ensign Edward Gosselin, Darien; Sgt. Vincent M. Horan, Stamford; Coxswain Henry J. Lanquette, Wallingford; Seaman 1/C John Luntta, Canton; Ensign William O"Neill, Stamford; Stanislaus Orzech, Meriden;
SF 3/C Richard Patterson, Berlin; Seaman 1/C George Povesko, Bridgeport; Mike Quattro, Norwich; Chief Radioman Thomas F. Reeves, Thomaston; Seaman 1/C William Seeley, New London; Pfc. George Smith, Hartford; 2nd Lt. Gordon Sterling; Pfc. Felix Wegrzyn, Bridgeport; and Ensign Ulmont Whitehead Jr., Hartford.
As reported in the Stamford Times, December 16, 2007, p. A8.
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Ensign Ulmont I. "Monty" Whitehead Jr. was assigned to the battleship USS Arizona. I lived across the street from his parents. The only reminder of the young officer was the Gold Star in the window of their home.
Monty's father, Ulmont "Ully" Whitehead Sr., owned a garage on New Britain Avenue in Hartford. In 1944, when a hurricane blew down a willow in our back yard, Ully Whitehead backed his big tow truck between the houses, attached a length of cable to the tree, threw the winch motor into gear and pulled the huge tree upright. It lived for another 30 years.
By all accounts, Monty Whitehead was headed for a brilliant career in the Navy. A 1933 graduate of Hartford's Bulkeley High School, Monty served in the enlisted ranks for three years before winning an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. At Annapolis, Monty starred in football, leading Navy in receiving in 1938 and kicking a key field goal in Navy's 13-7 victory over Army in 1939.
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, as Japanese planes swooped down on Pearl Harbor, Monty Whitehead must have been racing to his battle station when an enemy bomb ignited the Arizona's forward magazine. He and his shipmates accounted for nearly half the U.S. losses that day.
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