Gilbert Livingston Kinney and his brothers were Navy men all the way.

Mr. Kinney was a gunner’s mate and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

One brother, Sheldon Hoard Kinney, became an admiral. He served in World War II, Korea,  and Vietnam. He was also a commandant of the Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1941.

The youngest brother, Donald Edward Kinney, became a commander. A pilot, he also served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

They were the sons of Harold S. Kinney, a draftsman, and Gladys Hoard Kinney, a homemaker. The family lived in Pasadena, California, where Gilbert was born June 15, 1921. He was active in gymnastics, theater and other activities at McKinley Junior High. He was an Eagle Scout and performed what the local newspaper called the flag service at two of Pasadena’s Memorial Day observations.

The junior high ended after 10th grade, but students could continue at Pasadena High and eventually take junior college classes there. It appears that it what he did starting in September 1938 and he was still attending right up until his enlisted in the Navy on May 16, 1939.

Sources: the Pasadena Independent; The Los Angeles Times; The New York Times; the Florida Times Union; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster rolls; California birth index. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.