Kenneth Cecil Bunch was born on 21 January 1919 in Norman County, Minn. He enlisted in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 at Des Moines, Iowa, on 9 March 1937 and received his "boot camp"

Recruit training

Recruit training, more commonly known as Basic Training and colloquially called Boot Camp, is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel, enlisted and officer...

 training at San Diego, Calif. Rated as seaman 2d class on 9 July 1937, Bunch was transferred to Scouting Squadron (VS) 42 ten days later. He remained with that unit in the years that followed, attaining the rate of radioman 2d class on 16 November 1940. With the extension of his enlistment on 9 March 1941, Bunch was transferred to the Naval Air Station at Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, Va., on 29 August 1941 where he joined VS-8, of the then-forming Hornet (CV-8) Air Group, soon thereafter. While in that squadron, he attained the rate of aviation radioman 1st class on 1 March 1942.

On 6 June 1942, the last day of the Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...

, Bunch flew as radioman-gunner in the Douglas SBD-3 "Dauntless"

SBD Dauntless

The Douglas SBD Dauntless was a naval dive bomber made by Douglas during World War II. The SBD was the United States Navy's main dive bomber from mid-1940 until late 1943, when it was largely replaced by the SB2C Helldiver...

 dive bomber

Dive bomber

A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...

 piloted by Ens. Donald T. Griswold

Don T. Griswold

Ensign Don T. Griswold, Jr., was a United States Naval Aviator.-Biography:Born in Bryan, Texas, he attended Iowa State and after graduation joined the Naval Aviation Corps. During the Battle of Midway, 6 June 1942, his Douglas SBD-3 "Dauntless" scout-bomber scored a hit on a Japanese ship but was...

, USNR, as the Hornet air group joined in the attacks on the fleeing Japanese cruisers Mogami and Mikuma. Antiaircraft fire claimed Griswold's SBD-3, the only airplane lost by VS-8 that day, and it crashed, killing both the pilot and his radioman. For his contribution to victory at Midway, ARM1c Bunch was posthumously awarded the Air Medal

Air Medal

The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...

.

Namesake

The Buckley class destroyer escort

Buckley class destroyer escort

The Buckley class destroyer escorts were 102 destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1943 - 1944. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and anti-submarine warfare ships. The lead ship was USS Buckley which was launched on 9 January 1943. The ships had General Electric steam...

, USS Bunch (DE-694)

USS Bunch (DE-694)

USS Bunch was a of the United States Navy, named after Kenneth Cecil Bunch, killed in action on 6 June 1942 while flying as radioman-gunner in an SBD Dauntless dive bomber during the Battle of Midway....

, was named after him and launched in 1943.