A life-long resident of the area, Pete was a Golden Gloves champion boxer in the 30s and a WWII Navy veteran. Pete was a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. He was near the end of duty watch by the oil tanks at the harbor when the attack began. He would readily recount details to family and friends interested in the events of that historic day. As a crew member of the USS Salt Lake City, following the attack on the Hawaiian harbor he escorted Doolittle’s bombers to the coast of Japan and subsequently fought in many of the historic battles in the South Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the liberation of the Philippines. Following the war, Pete was stationed on the USS Albemarle, a laboratory ship for Operation Crossroads and he witnessed the “Baker” atomic test detonation at the Bikini Atoll. After discharge from the Navy, Pete married Elsie Marie (Spotts), also of Kansas City, Kansas and they reared four children. He was the loving grandfather to nine grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.
Besides his parents, Pete was predeceased by his wife Elsie, his brother Joseph and his two sisters, Bernice and Margaret.
A life-long resident of the area, Pete was a Golden Gloves champion boxer in the 30s and a WWII Navy veteran. Pete was a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. He was near the end of duty watch by the oil tanks at the harbor when the attack began. He would readily recount details to family and friends interested in the events of that historic day. As a crew member of the USS Salt Lake City, following the attack on the Hawaiian harbor he escorted Doolittle’s bombers to the coast of Japan and subsequently fought in many of the historic battles in the South Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the liberation of the Philippines. Following the war, Pete was stationed on the USS Albemarle, a laboratory ship for Operation Crossroads and he witnessed the “Baker” atomic test detonation at the Bikini Atoll. After discharge from the Navy, Pete married Elsie Marie (Spotts), also of Kansas City, Kansas and they reared four children. He was the loving grandfather to nine grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.
Besides his parents, Pete was predeceased by his wife Elsie, his brother Joseph and his two sisters, Bernice and Margaret.
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