John Kappa

John Kappa

John Kappa Personnel File, National Archives

Quick Facts

Significance:

US Navy Sailor, World War II, KIA

Place of Birth:

Detroit, Michigan

Date of Birth:

January 27, 1920

Place of Death:

Near Okinawa

Date of Death:

July 30, 1945

Place of Burial:

Richmond, Michigan

Cemetery Name:

Saint Michael’s Cemetery

John Kappa enlisted in early June 1940. He served on USS Colorado (a battleship built in 1916) which saw Pacific service with Kappa onboard.¹ 

In Navy lingo, John Kappa was a "shellback" (having crossed the equator) and a "golden dragon" (having crossed the 180 meridian) in war service. 

Kappa was the son of Polish immigrants.  He enlisted at a young age (20) without a high school diploma in order to "learn a trade." He was a machinist’s mate and made regular advancements in his Navy career. Machinist's mates cleaned, adjusted, tested, and performed other preventive maintenance on a ship's boilers, main engines, turbo-generators, and other auxiliary machinery including steering engines, elevators, winches, pumps and associated valves.²

On December 31, 1943, Kappa was one of the original crew members who put USS Cassin Young (DD-793) into commission making him a "plankowner."³ Kappa died of his wounds on July 30, 1945, when a Japanese kamikaze struck the USS Cassin Young at the base of the forward smoke stack.

He was survived by his mother and four siblings.

John Kappa Personnel File, National Archives

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Footnotes:

1. Official Military File of John Kappa National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration, St Louis, MO
2. Official Military File of John Kappa National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration, St Louis, MO
3. Official Military File of John Kappa National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration, St Louis, MO