S1c Michael Martin Mckosky

Michael Martin McKosky was born June 12, 1922 in Oklahoma. His father, Michael J. McKosky, was a machinist, and his mother, Ethel Taylor McKosky, a homemaker.

The family lived in Tulsa before moving to Talihina a bit over 100 miles to the southeast. The son graduated in 1939 from Talihina HIgh School, where he played basketball and football. He left the town, population 1,057, on Nov. 27, 1940, to enlist in the Navy.

Mr. McKosky was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

A younger brother, William Harold, enlisted in the Navy in June 1942 and served through 1945. Most of his service was aboard the U.S.S. Bunker Hill, a carrier that earned 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation. He was aboard the ship in June 1944 when it was bombed, leaving two dead and more than 80 wounded.

Their father served in an Army ordnance company from September 1942 through January  1944.

Sources: The Daily Oklahoman of Oklahoma City; the Tulsa (Oklahoma) World; grave markers and cenotaph; Census; application for military headstone; Navy muster roll. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.