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Jo Key-Family
to remember
Key, John Lewis, GM2.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Bellfountain, OR
Last Address Rt. 1 Monroe, OR (Wife - Mary Louise Key)
Casualty Date May 12, 1945
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery - Portland, Oregon
Wall/Plot Coordinates Veterans' Lawn
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
After repairs at Pearl Harbor, New Mexico arrived at Ulithi to stage for the invasion of Okinawa, sailing on 21 March with a heavy fire support group. Her guns opened on Okinawa on 26 March, and they were not silent until 17 April, on which she had given aid to troops engaged ashore. Again on 21 and 29 April, she opened fire, and on 11 May she destroyed eight Shinyo suicide boats. While approaching her berth in Hagushi anchorage just after sunset on 12 May, New Mexico was attacked by two kamikazes; one plunged into her, the other managed to hit her with his bomb. She was set on fire, and 54 of her men were killed, with 119 wounded.
World War II/American Theater
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
September / 1945
Description The American Theater was a minor area of operations during World War II. This was mainly due to both North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict in Europe and Asia. Thus, any threat by the Axis Powers to invade the mainland United States or other areas was considered negligible, allowing for American resources to be deployed in overseas theaters.
This article includes attacks on continental territory, extending 200 miles (320 km) into the ocean, which is today under the sovereignty of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and several other smaller states, but excludes military action involving the Danish territory of Greenland, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Aleutian Islands. The most well known battles in North America during World War II were the Attack on Pearl Harbor (the first attack on US soil since the Battle of Ambos Nogales), the Aleutian Islands Campaign, the Battle of the St. Lawrence, and the attacks on Newfoundland.
