This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/JW.2ADE/8457 Message Board Post: Daily Independent newspaper Ridgecrest CA Kern County June 29, 2005 KENNETH J. "KINK" HARRIS 1924-2005 Former China Lake resident Kenneth J. "Kink" Harris passed away Thursday June 23, 2005 in Cottage Grove, Ore. He was 80. Services were held Monday June 27 at the Cottage Grove Elks Lodge with full military honors jointly conducted by the Elks and VFW. Mr. Harris was born July 26, 1924 in Paris, Texas the youngest of six children in the farming family of Volley and Lillie Thornton Harris. He married his wife of 54 years Terry Roberts on Aug. 26, 1950. He enlisted in the US Navy early in 1943 and was a combat veteran of World War II and recipient of the Purple Heart. Following boot camp in San Diego, flight schools in Hollister, Otai Mesa and Holtville Naval Air Station he was assigned to the escort aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay which sailed to the Gilbert Islands to support the invasion of Tarawa and Makin Islands. In the early morning hours of Nov. 24, 1943 the Liscome Bay was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. Twenty minutes later the carrier sank resulting in the deaths of 53 officers and 591 enlisted men. Harris was one of 272 suvivors rescued from the sea the following day by the USS Hughes. After convalescent leave, he was assigned to CA-SU-F-47 which shipped to Saipan in preparation for the invastion of Japan. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and joined members of his family at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake. He was employed as a machinist in explosive ordnance. His 37 year career in defense work icluded service at Oahu, Hawaii, employment with the Atomic Energy Commission in Los Alamos, N.M., and Lawrence Laboratory in Livermore.He retired in 1982. He was a motorcycle enthusiast and one of the "48," the original charter members of the Sandblasters Motorcycle Club. He served as one of the first elected officers. He was an avid hunter, fisherman, outdoorsman and gun collector. He was a life member of the National Rifle Association, Elks Lodge, Masonic Order, VFW, American Legion and the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He was a fierce supporter of the American military, proud of his Irish heritage and a good storyteller. He loved the company of family and friends and his associatio with the Elks Lodge in Cottage Grove. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Toy and Bud Harris, sisters Jettie Swink, Lettie Whitson and Goldie Klimachusky and son Danny. He is survived by his wife Terry Harris, daughters Nancy Kiser and Debbie Harris and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Media information provided by the family.