World War II Honoree

Armand Eugene Frechette

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Collinsville, Massachusetts

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank Seaman First Class. He was inducted into the United States Navy December 12, 1942 at Boston, Massachusetts, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station Newport, Rhode Island. Upon his graduation from boot camp, he was transferred to the USS Bunker Hill Aircraft Carrier, CV-17 for duty as an on-the-job trainee, in the Pacific Theater of Operations. On March 21, 1945 the Seagoing Airbase and her shipmates, along with an armada of U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, Cruisers and other Warships, arrived offshore of Okinawa in support of the impending invasion (Battle Dates: April 1–June 22, 1945). The Carrier on the eleventh of May was attacked by two Imperial Japanese Kamikaze Zero Fighters. The first Pilot crashed into a flight of fully-armed and fueled aircraft waiting for takeoff, and the second pilot crashed into the deck after releasing his ordnance. The attack inflicted a tremendous amount of damage, and the crew began the long battle to save their ship and shipmates. Reported missing in action, lost at sea, on the day of the attack. In remembrance of the brave, 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.