WILLIAM KEAN IS LOST AT SEA
Family’s Second War Casualty; Details Not Revealed
William K. Kean, 29, aviation machinist’s mate third class, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Kean, 1919 Ross street, was reported lost in action by the Navy department in a dispatch received Wednesday. The message gave no details as to the area of the naval action or the ship to which he was attached.
A brother, Kenneth Kean, seaman first class, was reported killed in action last November in the South Pacific area. Another brother, John, is in Sioux City, having received a medical discharge from the Army. Two other brothers are in the service: Pvt. Donald Kean, now training in the States, and Elwin Kean in the Coast Guard. There are three sisters in the family, Mrs. Violet Lind of Omaha; Mrs. Mary Cheshire of Sioux City; and Mrs. Katherine Brouillette of Oklahoma.
The father recently was retired from the detective department here.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 8, 1945
William Kean was born Mar. 9, 1915 to George and Nellie Scott Kean. He died Jan. 21, 1945 and is memorialized at the Walls of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery, Taguig City, Philippines and has a cenotaph in Fairview Cemetery, Waterloo, IA.
Petty Officer Kean served in World War II with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) and was MIA/KIA in a kamikaze attack. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Source: ancestry.com; abmc.gov
