World War II Honoree

John Kenneth Hildebrand

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Tucson, Arizona

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Pharmacist’s Mate First Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy September 20, 1942 at Phoenix, Arizona. Served as a Navy Corpsman, Combat Medic with the Second Marine Division in the Central Pacific Theater of Operations, assigned to Baker Company, an element of the Second Amphibious Tractor Battalion. His division participated in the amphibious assault against the Imperial Japanese forces in the Battle of Tarawa. The combat engagement took place on the Island of Betio, located on the Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands Code Name: Operation Galvanic. Reported missing in action Sunday, November 21, 1943 while riding in a Tracked Landing Vehicle, the LVT-1 struck a large enemy boat-mine while en-route to the beach. 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.