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Yeomen 3C Fred D. Burgess was serving aboard the U.S.S. Laffey at the battle of Okinawa on April 16, 1945 when the ship was badly damaged by enemy fire. Burgess was listed as Wounded in Action after the attack and died later that day.
From the memorial plaque aboard the U.S.S. Laffey:
"Okinawa was the largest amphibian invasion of the Pacific Campaign and the last major campaign of the Pacific War. More ships were used, more troops put ashore, more supplies transported, more bombs dropped, and more naval guns fired against shore targets than any other operation in the Pacific.
Thirty-four allied ships and craft of all types were sunk, mostly by kamikazes, and 368 ships and craft damaged. One of these ships was the USS Laffey. The battle of Okinawa became the most important point in this ship's history and the most memorable event in the lives of the men aboard her. For some these Laffey men, it was the last day of their lives."
Fred Burgess, Jr. Rites Saturday
Funeral services for Yeoman 3/C Fred Durrell Burgess, Jr., 20, of 869 Boulevard Cir., N.E., will be held at 2:30 pm tomorrow at Spring Hill. The Rev. J.T. Widner will officiate, and burial will be in West View Cemetery.
Yeoman Burgess was killed April 16, 1945, off Okinawa while serving aboard the destroyer USS Laffey.
A native Atlantan, he was an honor student at Tech High School. He was a member of Jackson Hill Baptist Church.
A member of the navy for a year and three months, Yeoman Burgess held the Purple Heart.