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GM3c Kenneth Frank Kennard
Kenneth Frank Kennard was born Jan. 7, 1918 in Polk County, Missouri north of Springfield. His mother, Margaret Pickett Kennard, was a homemaker, and his father, Charles Kennard, a farmer.
The family moved after early 1930 to Payette, a town of about 3,000 in western Idaho.
Kenneth was king of the town’s annual Apple Blossom Festival in 1937. He graduated from Payette High School in 1938. School yearbooks show he played basketball, baseball, track, and golf. He also sang in the glee club.
A brief mention in the local newspaper in June 1938 said he was a member of Battery C of the 148th Field Artillery of the National Guard. Mr. Kennard enlisted in the Navy on Aug. 16, 1939.
He was a gunner’s mate and petty officer third class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
Sources: the Payette Valley (Idaho) Sentinel; Census; Navy muster roll; Payette County IDGenWeb Project; Payette High yearbook; Defense Department. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.