World War II Honoree

Francis John Zobal

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Mauston, Wisconsin

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Seaman Second Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy January 29, 1941 at Chicago, Illinois, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon his graduation from boot camp, he was transferred to the USS Indianapolis Heavy Cruiser, CA-35 for duty as an on-the-job-trainee. After delivering parts for the first atomic bomb to the U.S. Air Base on the island of Tinian, Western Pacific Theater of Operations, the Cruiser along with her shipmates departed for the Philippine Islands. Reported missing in action, lost at sea when the warship was hit by two torpedoes from an Imperial Japanese submarine Monday, July 30, 1945, sinking in twelve minutes. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the American Cemetery at Fort William-McKinley in Manila, Philippine Islands. In his Memory and Honor, a cenotaph memorial has been placed at the Saint Patrick’s Cemetery in Mauston, Wisconsin. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.