Remembering Pasadena’s Five Sons Lost at Pearl Harbor

Five young men from Pasadena — each with dreams, families, and deep ties to their community — perished in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Today, on the 83rd anniversary of that devastating assault, their stories resonate in the city that sent them to war.

The five represent a profound local connection to one of America’s most pivotal moments. Their stories paint a vivid picture of young men who left their hometown to serve their country, never to return.

Three of the fallen Pasadena servicemen — Gilbert Livingston Kinney, Harold Thomas Robinson Jr. (the only son of Harold T. Robinson Sr. and Hazell Nott), and James William Robinson (the only son of Olin Robinson and Beemie Rita Nee) — were stationed aboard the USS Arizona. The other two — John Albert Karli (the only son of Albert Karli and Hildur Rudin) and Wallace Gregory Mitchell (the son of George and Isabell Mitchell) — served on the USS Oklahoma, which suffered the second-highest number of deaths in the attack when multiple torpedoes struck the ship, causing it to capsize and claiming 429 crew members’ lives.

Kinney’s local roots ran deep. After graduating from Pasadena City College, he joined the Navy in 1939. Before his service, Kinney had been an active member of the Sea Scouts of Aurora, Troop 10 in Pasadena. Earlier that same year, he had participated in a moment of civic pride, riding on a Rose Parade float during its 50th anniversary celebration with Shirley Temple as Grand Marshal.

Karli’s story reflects deep roots in the community. Born on the Henry E. Huntington’s estate in San Marino, where his father worked as a gardener, he was the child of Swiss and Swedish immigrants. After the family moved to Pasadena, he distinguished himself as a baseball standout at both John Muir High School, from which he graduated in 1940, and Pasadena Community College. Following high school, Karli traveled to San Diego to report to the Navy, where he was assigned to the ill-fated Oklahoma.

In a poignant development that brought one family closure after nearly eight decades, Seaman First Class Karli’s remains were identified in 2018 through DNA testing. On May 2, 2019, he received a military welcome home and was finally laid to rest near his family at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena.

“Every day is remembrance day with all of the veterans who rest here,” says Nick Dormody, a cemetery representative. “Imagine that this young man went off to serve his country, his parents had died in the interim, and now he is buried beside his parents here. It was probably very tough for the family. But they have closure now. Our purpose has been to help heal their broken hearts.”

Karli’s final resting place at Mountain View Cemetery places him among more than 700 Union soldiers, 72 Confederate soldiers, and veterans from multiple conflicts including the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

The other four Pasadena servicemen remain memorialized at the Courts of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii, where their names stand as eternal testimonies to their sacrifice.

The attack on Pearl Harbor, which propelled the United States into World War II, resulted in the deaths of 2,008 Navy personnel, 109 Marines, and 218 Army service members, along with 68 civilians. Despite the devastating losses, the American military personnel fought back with extraordinary courage, with fifteen U.S. Navy personnel receiving the Medal of Honor for their actions during the attack, ten of them posthumously.