Seaman 1c John Junior Rieman

Seaman 1st Class John J. Rieman, 3220841, CV-19, the Essex-Class Aircraft Carrier "USS Hancock." Killed in Action on 7 April 1945, off the coast of Okinawa when a Kamikaze crashed into the USS Hancock's flight deck. Born on 23 February 1926, he enlisted in the Navy on 26 January 1944 from Sheffield, Iowa.

On 7 April 1945, the USS Hancock was supporting American forces fighting on Okinawa. A Japanese Kamikaze aircraft, a "Judy" dive-bomber, attacked the carrier head-on, skimming along the water and evading the carrier's anti-aircraft fire long enough to crash into the Hancock, cartwheeling across the flight before deck crashing into a group of American aircraft. The Judy carried a 500-lb bomb which fell loose from the aircraft and exploded on the port-catapult causing extensive damage. Sailors were killed in the initial explosion or blow over the side of the ship. Despite heavy damage that required the USS Hancock to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs, the crew of the Hancock battled the fires and commenced flight operations in less then four hour. 63 sailors were killed of which the remains of 35 were never recovered. S1c Rieman was one of those sailors lost at sea.

He is listed on the Tablet of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii. He was 19 years old and survived by his mother and father.

Rieman, John J, S1c