Aviation Radioman, Second Class John Eugene Griffith KIA

Aviation Radioman, Second Class John Eugene Griffith KIA US Navy. Born 12 August 1924 in Pueblo, Colorado. He attended schools in Arkansas City and Wichita, Kansas, high schools in Pueblo and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was a student at the University of New Mexico at the time of entering service on 15 January 1943, at the age of 18. He trained at San Diego, California, and served in the Pacific Area with Bombing Squadron 80, Division 6, aboard the USS TICONDEROGA (CV-14). Aviation Radioman Griffith took part in fast carrier force strikes in the Philippines, with dive-bombing attacks against enemy shipping movements and shore installations. On 13 November 1944, while attacking targets in Luzon as a supporting operation for the Leyte invasion, he lost his life when his plane was shot down in Manila Bay by enemy antiaircraft fire, at the age of 20. In addition to the Purple Heart Medal (PHM), he earned the American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. He was the son of William Eugene and Grace Griffith of Pueblo, Colorado, and brother of Radioman, Second Class Leland Griffith. 

Source:

1- THE FIGHTING MEN OF Colorado – Asiatic-Pacific Theater World War Two – 1948