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Joseph Parker Hittorff Jr.

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JOSEPH P. HITTORFF, JR., ENS, USN

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Joseph Hittorff, Jr. '40

Date of birth: December 2, 1916

Date of death: December 7, 1941

Age: 25

Lucky Bag

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

JOSEPH PARKER HITTORFF, JR.

Collingswood, New Jersey

Joe

Joe is what may well be termed a "self-made" man. Mentally and physically he is a worker and fighter "par-excellence." Those few spare minutes before the formation bell are time enough for a quick work-out or a glance at the latest current event — and are never wasted. However, Joe is by no means a "book-worm." In addition to being an enthusiastic soccer and lacrosse man, he plays a passable game of touch football. Although a competent dancer Joe does not drag excessively nor is he sectional in his choice of guests. Easy to become acquainted with and impossible to forget — Joe is everybody's friend.

Soccer 4, 3, 2, 1; Lacrosse N.A., 4, 3, 2; Reception Committee 3, 2, 1; Quarterdeck Society 3, 2, 1; Boat Club 3, 2, 1; Foreign Language Club 2, 1; Lucky Bag Staff; 1 Stripe.

Loss

Joe was lost in USS Oklahoma (BB 37) during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Obituary

From Hull Funeral Home:

Ensign Joseph Parker Hittorff, Jr., was born in Kingston, NJ on December 2, 1916. He died 25 years later on the Oklahoma after it was bombed in Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Joe (or Bud, as his older sister Marion called him) was the son of Joseph Peter Hittorff and Ethel (Van Wagenen) Hittorff.

Joe’s family resided in Springfield, MA for a brief time where his father was a commercial traveler for a coffee company. Marion, Joe, and their parents then moved to 211 Virginia Avenue in Westmont, NJ. When Joe was a junior in high school, his mother died. In 1934, Joe graduated from Collingswood High School. He had managed his high school football team during his senior year and had attained the rank of Eagle Scout. After graduation, he attended Brown Preparatory School for English and math. Joseph had always wanted to go to sea, and so he chose to start a career in the Navy. In June of 1936, he entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and graduated in 1940. His initial assignment was serving on board the battleship USS Oklahoma, a 583 foot battleship attached to the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii. Joe had completed all of the requirements for being promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade but his commission had not come through at the time of his death.

Joe sent frequent letters home. In one from November 2, 1941, he expressed concern that there were war clouds on the horizon, and he was “expecting the worst -- and hoping for the best.” On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The Oklahoma sank, and Joe was among the casualties along with 395 enlisted men and 19 other officers. Seven days later, a telegram was sent to his parents and sister saying, “The Navy Department deeply regrets to inform you that your son, Ensign Joseph Parker Hittorff, Jr., United States Navy, was lost in action.” Joe’s Naval Academy ring was recovered from the wreckage at a later time. Also returned to the family was a ceremonial sword from Annapolis. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the American Defense Medal.

On March 7, 2016, seventy-four years and three months later, Joe’s remaining family members were notified that his remains had been identified after being disinterred from the Punch Bowl Cemetery in Hawaii. Sadly, his oldest living relative, Marie Camp of South Kent, CT passed away early this April. Marie, her sister Amy Nissen of Nassau, New York, and cousin Norma Medlicott of Zephyrhills, FL were all first cousins of Joe and Marion.

His father was listed as next of kin.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag
Joe at a high school ceremony in New Jersey in 1934.

Joseph P Hittorff, Jr