World War II Honoree

Kenneth E. Barrett

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Silverton, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Radioman Second Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy November 18, 1942 at Denver, Colorado, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station San Diego, California. After completing boot camp, he was transferred to the USS Hazelwood Destroyer, DD-531 for duty as a Radio Technician. On March 21, 1945 the Destroyer and her shipmates, along with an armada of U.S. Battleships, Cruisers, and other warships arrived off shore of Okinawa in support of the impeding invasion. Reported missing in action, lost at sea April 25, 1945 when an Imperial Japanese Naval Kamikaze pilot flew into his Destroyer. The enemy aircraft careened past the superstructure on the port side, crashing into the bridge. Flaming gasoline spilled over the deck and bulkheads, taking the lives of seventy-seven Navy personnel. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.