The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the May 2025 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Motor Machinist Mate 3rd Class John Howard Kunkel. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is privileged to honor the service memories of Motor Machinist Mate 3rd Class John Howard Kunkel thanks to HT2 Charles Atkins. The Following reflections of MOMM3 John Howard Kunkel’s service was written by USS Hector AR-7 Historian, HT2 Charles Atkins.

"World War Two found Howard Kunkel, age 16, too young to enlist. This rural farm boy lived in San Martin, California, holding down jobs and paying room and board to his parents. He was no stranger to hard work and it was depression times. When he turned 17 years old, he asked his folks if they would sign for him to go into the Navy. He like the Navy uniforms best of all the services. His father, Oliver, said, yes, he would sign for him, but the service required both parents’ signature, and Howard’s mom did not want to lose her boy so soon. He explained to her that, in the Navy, he would eat well and have clean clothes. He preferred that to being drafted, digging fox holes and living in the dirt.

Howard went back to work, and nothing more was said until just before his 18th birthday. His mom told him that she had cried and prayed about it, and if that is what he wanted, then she would sign. It was none too soon as Howard celebrated his 18th birthday on a troop train headed for Farragut, Idaho.

He arrived at boot camp in the “dead of winter” to start his basic training. Howard enjoyed the training, and they fed him really good. He started gaining weight. He had never learned to swim, so he spent extra pool time bringing himself up to basic standards.

After boot camp Howard was sent aboard troop train to Basic Engineering School in Great Lakes, Illinois. There he learned how to repair and maintain steam engines and turbines. He made liberty to the city of Chicago and attended several games at Wrigley Field. He did well, so his next assignment saw him transferred to Richmond, Virginia, and Diesel Engine School.

Upon completion of diesel school, Howard sewed on his Motor Machinist Mate third class stripes. He now was a rated petty officer with the ability to keep steam and diesel engines running.

Howard was sent to Oceanside, California, Camp Pendleton, to learn basic amphibious training and become a beach party member during Marine assaults.

Howard found his new ship, The USS Menifee APA-202, a Haskell class Amphibious Attack Transport ship. It was made in Vancouver, Washington and then ported in Astoria, Oregon, being loaded with stores and personnel. He checked aboard and was assigned to work in the evaporator room making fresh “feed” and drinking water for the ship. He explained that the system had to make “feed” water for the ship’s steam turbines purer than the drinking water for the crew. If the salt content was above an acceptable standard, then they had to switch out evaporators. Extra “feed” water was pumped into the drinking water lines.

Another one of his jobs was to work in the after steering room. He stood watches there and had to be able to steer the ship in case of an emergency loss of steering from the helm.

The Menifee made stops along the west coast during “shake down” cruise. This was to work out any problems that may arise with the new ship. After Menifee was cleared for duty, she was sent to the Pacific war.

The Menifee made stops at many islands transferring personnel and supplies from Hawaii to islands like Guam, Wake, Guadalcanal, Tulagi, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. His General Quarters station was a fire fighting unit on the foc’sule in the forward part of the ship. Other times, if landing troops by landing craft, he might be a landing craft member keeping the engines running. He carried a .30 cal M1 carbine when he hit the beach with the Marines.

Howard remembers crossing the equator twice. The first time he was a “Polly wog”, where he went through a naval tradition of hazing and fun, celebrating a sailor’s “rite of passage” and being declared worthy by ‘King Neptune”. The second crossing he was now a “Shellback” and could participate in the revelry of initiating new “Polly wog” sailors, all in good fun. He proudly owns two important documents he keeps in his military memories, that of a “Plank Owner” (Commissioning crew member) and that of a “Shellback”.

Howard and Menifee participated in their first support of the Invasion of Okinawa. He said that the Army was posed on one side of the island to make the Japanese think the invasion was coming there, while the Navy sent in the 6th Marines from the opposite side of the island. He was sent in with the Marines as a beach party member, on the second day of the invasion. His job was to help set up a staging area for communications with the ship, while also keeping the generators running for lights and communications. They used a backup system of semaphore (flag signals) if power went down. The ships were under attack by Kamikaze planes, and one had a near miss with the Menifee’s aft 40mm gun mount. He spent two nights on the beach until his ship had brought all its supplies and Marines to the island.

Howard made six cross-Pacific cruises with the Menifee, including “Magic Carpet rides” for returning GI’s.

In 1945, just after the atomic bombs had been dropped and Japan surrendered, the ship was loaded with the 10th Army personnel and went to Nagasaki, Japan, to become part of the occupation forces. There, as part of the Beach Party personnel, he spent two nights on edges of the bombed-out city. He remembers that there wasn’t much left. The harbor had lots of bodies floating, and there was devastation everywhere. He picked up a few mementos from his time there, one being a new pair of chopsticks in a box.

He returned to the west coast of California with enough earned service points to leave the ship for discharge. Since his discharge time was not quite up, and the Menifee was due to return to Japan, he transferred to the USS Henrico APA45. That’s when he discovered the Henrico was also due to leave on a Pacific cruise. He made it off the ship within hours before Henrico departed, after much concern and inquiry of personnel and the captain. He had spent a total time of 29 months in the Navy, and for 19 of those he was at sea. He separated from the Navy at Camp Shoemaker, Pleasanton, California, on May 26th, 1946 and returned home to San Martin.

Most memorable moments for Howard, were attending ball games at Wrigley Field, Chicago.

While participating in the invasion of Okinawa, he and some others slipped away on their last night to recover some souvenirs. They were gone for about an hour to find that their unit had pulled out, and Marines were now occupying their foxholes. They were able to catch a ride on an amphibious craft and just barely got back to the ship before it got underway. They had been declared “missing”. He said he should have been in trouble, but after two senior members of his group had stated the same “cover up” story, he was never called to explain what happened.

Howard’s awards included the Asiatic/ Pacific medal with one star, the Philippine liberation medal, and American Area Victory medal.

Howard married his teen sweet heart and went right to work after returning home. He worked on local ranches maintaining fruit trees. He got his first full time job as a retail clerk in a grocery store and spent the next 36 years in that occupation. He always had some extra part time job to do and spent many hours enjoying his family, church and friends.

When Howard retired, he filled his time with travel, family and church activities. He became a member of the American Legion and attended many USS Menifee reunions. He used to like to say that, the Navy taught him to get along and work with people towards a common cause.

Howard passed December 18, 2006, and was buried with full military honors in Oak Hill Cemetery, San Jose, California. His legacy lives on.”

The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Motor Machinist Mate 3rd Class John Howard Kunkel, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service