World War II Honoree
Killed in World War II
Floyd Alvin Powell
Branch of Service
U.S. Navy
Hometown
Glenwood Springs, Colorado
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Machinist's Mate Second Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy November 26, 1940 at Denver, Colorado. Served aboard the USS Pensacola Cruiser CA-24 in the Pacific Theater of Operations. On November 29, 1942 the Cruiser and her shipmates, along with an armada of U.S. Destroyers, Cruisers and other Warships, arrived off-shore of Guadalcanal to intercept a convoy of Imperial Japanese Naval Forces. Reported missing in action lost at sea, in the Battle of Tassafaronga Monday, November 30, 1942 when a torpedo launched by a Japanese destroyer hit his Cruiser on the portside. Flames from the strike engulfed the Pensacola’s main deck, where ammunition in the storage lockers began exploding. His name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the American Cemetery at Fort William-McKinley in Manila, Philippine Islands. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.