McKinnie, Russell, S2c

This Military Service Page was originated/owned by Felix Cervantes, III (Admiral Ese), BM2


Mess Attendant/2c Russell McKinnie was Killed in Action on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He was stationed aboard the USS Arizona BB39.

Russell McKinnie was born in 1901 in Shelby, Tennessee to Leathy McKinnie, his father’s name could be Frank or Willie, records do not verify except that he was a farmer.  They do indicate Russell had four siblings.  There are few records for Russell other than he enlisted on 18 December 1939 and was aboard the USS Arizona by early March 1940 as stewards’ mate second class.
The USS Arizona housed 1,512 officers, sailors and Marines, one of the two largest battleships in the Navy’s fleet.  She was invincible –until she was bombed by armor-piercing shells modified into bombs on 7 December 1941.  Ten torpedo bombers hit the Arizona from amidships to stern and shortly after, others bombers hit the bow area.  The stern most shell ricocheted off Turret IV and penetrated the deck; the next bomb hit near the port edge detonating the area of the anti-torpedo bulkhead, another hit portside near an anti-aircraft gun; the last in the vicinity of Turret II penetrating the armored deck near the magazines located in the forward section of the ship.  This last bomb caused a catastrophic explosion, venting through the sides of the ship and destroying much of the interior structure causing the forward turrets and conning tower to collapse downward and the foremast and funnel to collapse forward, effectively tearing the ship in half and resulting in the unique silhouette of the USS Arizona memorial today.  The explosion set off fierce fires that burned for two days.  There is not enough of the Arizona left intact to be able to determine exact locations of these hits.  Men were being strafed as they rushed to battle stations, others were killed instantly; ships were listing, capsizing, spilling oil which congealed when it hit the water and then caught fire.  The dive bombers were too low for the ships’ guns and the horizonal bombers were too high; our planes never got a chance to get off the ground as the Japanese hit them first.  Of the crew, 1,177 lost their lives – approximately half the total lives lost on 7 December 1941. 
STM2 Russell McKinnie (Service Number 2955552) is listed as Missing in Action and is memorialized on both the USS Arizona and the Honolulu Memorials.  He received a Purple Heart, WW II Victory, American Campaign, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, Navy Expeditionary and Good Conduct medals as well as a Combat Action ribbon and Navy Presidential Unit Citation for his service.
SOURCES: Pearl Harbor Ghosts by Thurston Clarke; Find-a-Grave; Ancestry.com; HonorStates.org; Fold3; newspapers.org.
https://pearlharbor.org/facts-uss-arizona-bb-39/
http://www.ibiblio.org/phha/arizona/history.html#pearlharbor