Navy Seaman First Class

Kenneth Melvin Quande

Sisseton, South Dakota

Roberts County

November 1, 1912-July 9, 1943

POW Manila, Philippines

Kenneth Melvin Quande was born to Peter and Alma (Brantseg) Quande November 1, 1912, at Sisseton, South Dakota. He had twin siblings: Harold and Helen. His sister Maria died at age 17. Kenneth graduated from Sisseton High School in 1930. During high school, Kenneth was an outstanding baseball pitcher in Junior League. His team went to the State Tournament in Mitchell. Kenneth also enjoyed playing pool and studying history.

Kenneth enlisted in the Navy on 24 Nov 1930, as an Apprentice Seaman at Omaha, Nebraska. During the four years he served, he was at the U.S. Naval Training Station at San Diego, CA; the USS Gamble; the U.S. Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor; back to the USS Gamble; and to the USS Utah where he received an honorable discharge as Seaman First Class. He was then employed by Swift and Co. for two years.

After World War II broke out, he reenlisted in the Navy 16 Oct 1940 as Seaman First Class at the U.S. Navy Recruiting Station, Seattle, Washington. He served aboard the USS Ramsay, the USS Chavmont, then the USS Luzon. Ten days before Pearl Harbor the Luzon was ordered to the Philippines, and was stationed on river patrol at Shanghai. Kenneth served until the fall of Corregidor.

The river gunboat Luzon, and the mine sweeper, Quail, were severely damaged by gunfire and were sunk by U.S. forces when capture appeared imminent. When Corregidor fell, there were approximately 175 officers and 2,100 men of the Navy, and 70 officers and 1,500 men of the Marine Corps in the defending forces. It is assumed that all of these officers and men have been captured and will be held as prisoners of war. So far as is known no casualties resulted from any of the sinkings.

Navy Seaman First Class Kenneth Melvin Quande was reported missing May 6, 1942. Six months later, the International Red Cross reported him a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines.

In July 1943, a telegram was received from the war department making known his death was due to malaria.

On March 8, 1943, the Navy Department informed you that it was in receipt of an official cablegram from the International Red Cross in Tokyo, stating that your son, Kenneth Melvin Quande, Seaman First Class, U.S. Navy, was being held as a prisoner of war in the Philippine Islands.

It is now the sad duty of this Bureau to inform you that it is in receipt of a further cablegram from the same source, dated July 9, 1943, stating that your son died in a Philippine Island Prison Camp of malaria. The date of your son’s death was not given. In the absence of further information, the Secretary of the Navy has ruled that the date of your son’s death will be set as July 9, 1943, the date of the cablegram.

The Bureau deeply regrets its inability to supply further information concerning your son’s death. The place of burial, type of ceremony, and medical attention administered are all details denied a place in the necessarily terse reports forwarded by the International Red Cross was able to obtain the few facts that are now obtained from the Japanese. Should additional information become available at some future date it will be forwarded to you promptly by the Navy Department.

Navy Seaman First Class Kenneth Quande’s death was officially listed as November 17, 1942, and he was presumably buried in the Philippines. He was engaged to Lillian Grimsrud at the time of his death. Lillian later married Harold Quande, Kenneth’s brother, who also served in World War II. Current survivors include sister Mrs. Harry (Helen) Kreiser of Fergus Falls, Minnesota; and Lillian Quande, who lives in a nursing home in Missoula, Montana.

The Otto, Quande, Renville American Legion Post in Sisseton is named for Kenneth Quande for the great sacrifice he gave to his country.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Rosholt High School, Rosholt, South Dakota, March 4, 2002. Information for this entry was provided by an obituary in the Sisseton Courier, Art Torness, Sisseton, local historian; and Pete Quande, Missoula, Montana.

Kenneth M Quande