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| Seaman 2nd Class Hugh Naff served on the light cruiser USS Helena at Pearl Harbor. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52606453/hugh-kenneth-naff http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar//USN/ships/CL/CL-50_Helena.html |
Hugh Kenneth Naff never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on May 5, 1919 in Stevens, Washington. His parents Hugh and Alice were born in Tennessee and Canada, respectively. His father worked as a saw mill sawyer and later as a real estate broker. Hugh had one older brother. He also had six older half brothers and an older half sister. By 1940 Hugh had completed four years of high school. He was working as a government laborer and living with his retired parents.
He was drafted into the navy on January 2, 1941. He was assigned to the light cruiser USS Helena in April where he had the rank of seaman 2nd class.
Helena was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She was berthed at the location normally used by the battleship USS Pennsylvania (which was in dry dock) so it became a prime target for the Japanese who expected Pennsylvania. Within minutes, Helena was struck by a torpedo that killed twenty men. Timely counter flooding kept the cruiser afloat. Another fourteen men were killed while the crew was fighting the fires. One of those lost that day was Seaman Naff.
His grave is at Riverton Crest Cemetery in Tukwila, Washington.
TONY CANADEO
Born in Chicago, Illinois on the same day as Hugh Naff was Tony Canadeo. He was a star football halfback at Gonzaga University until 1941 when it discontinued the football program. Tony was a late draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 1941 draft. While with the Packers Canadeo played halfback, quarterback, and tailback. He also played defensive back and special teams as a kicker and returner. He left to serve in the Navy but was honorably discharged in 1943 so he returned to play with the Packers, but by 1944 he had enlisted in the army and would not play again until the war ended. He played until 1952.
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| https://alchetron.com/Tony-Canadeo |
Last year on this date I profiled Percival Hankins, 25th Infantry Division. You can read about Percival here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
Rest in peace young man .
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