World War II Honoree

Harry Zupnick

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

San Pedro, California

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Chief Commissary Steward. He was inducted into the United States Navy April 20, 1938 at Los Angeles, California, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from boot camp and Culinary Schooling, he was transferred to the USS Jarvis Destroyer, DD-393 for duty, responsible for provisioning and preparing food for all personnel on board his ship. On August 7, 1942 the Destroyer and her shipmates, along with an armada of U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, and Cruisers arrived off-shore of Guadalcanal in support of the impending invasion. Reported missing in action, lost at sea Sunday, August 9, 1942 when his warship was torpedoed by an Imperial Japanese Torpedo Bomber in the Southwestern Pacific Theater of Operations, and she went down with all hands off-shore of Tulagi Island. 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. Later his missing in action status was amended to read killed in action January 12, 1945. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.