World War II Honoree
Killed In Action
Kenneth Merle Hayes
Branch of Service
U.S. Navy
Hometown
Los Angeles, California
Honored By
Orville L. Kline
Rank: Fireman First Class. Inducted into the United States Navy July 6, 1938 at Los Angeles, California. He completed basic military training at the U.S. Naval Training Station San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from boot camp, he was transferred to the USS Arizona Battleship, BB-39 for duty, and based at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. Sunday Morning, December 7, 1941 the Emperor of Japan and his Naval Aviators launched their well-planned attack on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor, and other military installations on Oahu. The Arizona moored on Ford Island along with her shipmates came under attack, and she was sunk by an armor piercing bomb, which ignited the forward ammunition magazine. Reported missing in action or entombed in the USS Arizona, succeeding the attack. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at Honolulu Memorial Location: Honolulu, Hawaii. In his Memory and Honor, this American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his Heroism and ultimate sacrifice.