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Paying last respects

Killed at Pearl Harbor, Kennedy returns home

By Joe Sutter 5 min read

TITONKA -- Elizabeth Kennedy, known as Ma Kennedy in the Titonka area, always believed her son would come home.

Navy Fireman 1st Class William H. Kennedy, Titonka's first casualty of World War II, was finally laid to rest next to his mother in Titonka's Buffalo Township Cemetery Friday morning, 75 years after he perished on board the battleship USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Kennedy's remains had been interred with other unidentified sailors in Hawaii, until they were identified through DNA testing as part of a U.S. Department of Defense initiative.

Seeing her boy return would have warmed Ma Kennedy's heart, said Sharon Miller, William's niece and one of his closest living relatives.

"I do know my grandmother never got over his death," Miller said.

She had seen that, she said, in correspondence she'd found between her mother and grandmother.

"I think she would be so happy," Miller said. "I think it would have meant a lot to her, and I think it would have given her closure. All she knew is he was missing in action. Nothing else."

Well over 100 people attended the funeral at United Methodist Church in Titonka. Kennedy was brought to town by an honor guard from the Navy Operational Support Center in Des Moines, and his procession was led by Patriot Guard and American Legion riders.

Color guard was provided by the American Legion and VFW posts from all across the region.

"It's really special to us," said Legion Commander Stuart Simonson. "I mean veterans -- they just have a camaraderie. They have a shared experience. It's an honor for us to be here to do this."

It's hard to describe what it means, he said.

"It's history. Look at the history taking place today," Simonson said. "What are the chances that more than 75 years after the fact you'd be able to be brought back to your hometown and buried next to your mother?"

Students from Algona and North Kossuth school districts were bused in to learn about that history, and the Algona High School Chamber Singers provided special music.

The Titonka VFW post is named after Kennedy, which Simonson said is common--many posts in the area are named after their first casualty of World War I or II.

The ceremony gives local veterans a chance for "that name to mean something," said Norm Cooper, of the Titonka VFW.

"We're not charter members," Cooper said. "This whole troop here, it brings meaning to the name, where before it was just a name on our unit for us newer ones."

Cooper is a Vietnam veteran of the Air Force.

"It's unbelievable. For a small town like this, we'll probably never see that type of procedure again," he said.

Miller was born in Fort Dodge, but grew up in Colorado, where she now lives. Her son, Jamie Miller, was also impressed by the size of the reception.

"It's like being part of a movie," Jamie Miller said. "Rolling in and seeing this many people standing here waiting, after the church was packed. Driving behind the hearse, and seeing the people on the sides of the streets waving, paying their respects.

"We thought it would be family, friends, just the local area, you know, a town of 500. We had no idea. The fire department went all out, the preparation for the cemetery was absolutely beautiful."

Sharon Miller said she didn't know a lot about Kennedy, but she learned more about him after meeting Lois Boekelman in Titonka.

"I knew this boy a long time ago," Boekelman said. "He was a fun guy. He always spent a lot of time with my grandparents."

"She said he was ornery," Sharon Miller said.

Kennedy graduated from Titonka High School in 1934. He worked for a local farmer, drove truck for Harold Miller, took a diesel engine course in Des Moines and attended a business college in Tyler, Texas. He joined the Navy in 1940.

At the funeral the Rev. S. Kim Peterson talked about the sinking of Kennedy's ship on Dec. 7, 1941.

In the early hours of the attack, three torpedoes struck the USS Oklahoma, Peterson said. As the ship began to capsize, it was struck twice more.

"Although many of the crew transferred over to the Maryland and aided in the defense against the Japanese, 429 were killed in the sinking," Peterson said.

William's remains were flown to Des Moines and then escorted to Titonka. Visitors came to pay tribute Thursday night at Oakcrest Funeral Services.

Sharon Miller said she was notified four and a half years ago of the Navy's effort to put a name to some of its unidentified slain.

"I was contacted by a genealogist in Texas that was working with the Navy. She was trying to find relatives with close enough DNA," Miller said.

The program was put on hold because of funding, she said, but in January she learned of the match.

"I was jumping up and down," she said. "This is so amazing.

"I felt honored to be able to be the one who was the key person to bring him back."

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