This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Michael D. Withers (Mike), OSCS
to remember
McKenna, Francis Joseph, RADM USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Leicester, MA
Last Address Manhasset, NY
Date of Passing May 29, 1969
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Following his retirement from the Navy in 1950, Admiral McKenna worked as a full-time, and later a part-time, consultant to the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, until retiring for good in 1961. He and his family resided in Manhasset, New York from 1948 until his death from cancer on 29 May, 1969.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions during World War II
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. St. Lo (CVE-63)
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 339 (June 1945)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Francis Joseph McKenna, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Escort Carrier U.S.S. ST. LO (CVE-63), during operations against major elements of the Japanese Fleet near Samar Island in Philippine waters during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 25 October 1944. With a superb display of seamanship, Captain McKenna maneuvered his ship to avoid crippling blows from the constant gunfire of a rapidly advancing enemy, superior in numbers, armor, firepower and speed. Having survived this crucial ordeal, his ship shortly afterwards was hit and destroyed by the determined attack of an enemy airplane. Captain McKenna was the last man to leave his doomed ship, and his extraordinary courage and magnificent fighting spirit will live forever in the minds of the officers and men who served with him that day. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Navy of the United States.
Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign (1944)/Battle of Tinian
From Month/Year
July / 1944
To Month/Year
August / 1944
Description The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July until 1 August 1944. The 9,000-man Japanese garrison was eliminated, and the island joined Saipan and Guam as a base for the Twentieth Air Force.
The 4th Marine Division landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment and marine artillery firing across the strait from Saipan. With the help of Seabee ingenuity the Marines were able to land where the Japanese did not expect, along the Northwest coast with its water's edge small coral cliffs. A successful feint for the major settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the island. They withstood a series of night counterattacks supported by tanks, and the 2nd Marine Division landed the next day.
The weather worsened on 28 July, damaging the pontoon causeways, and interrupting the unloading of supplies. By 29 July, the Americans had captured half the island, and on 30 July the 4th Marine Division occupied Tinian Town and Airfield No. 4.
Japanese remnants made a final stand in the caves and ravines of a limestone ridge on the south portion of the island, making probes and counterattacks into the Marine line. Resistance continued through 3 August, with some civilians murdered by the Japanese.
Aftermath
By 10 August 1944, 13,000 Japanese civilians were interned, but up to 4,000 were dead through suicide, murdered by Japanese troops or killed in combat. The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian, commanded by Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada, held out until the end of the war, surrendering on 4 September 1945. The last holdout on Tinian, Murata Susumu, was captured in 1953.
After the battle, Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific campaign. Camps were built for 50,000 troops. Fifteen thousand Seabees turned the island into the busiest airfield of the war, with six 7,900-foot (2,400 m) runways for attacks by United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress bombers on enemy targets in the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, and mainland Japan, including the March 9/10 1945 Operation Meetinghouse firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. North Field was built over Airfields No. 1 and 3, and became operational in February 1945, while West Field was built over Airfield No. 2, and became operational in March 1945.
