A new World War II exhibit and a long-time war hero of the era were celebrated Monday in Alameda.<\/p>\n
Over 50 friends, family, and community members gathered aboard the USS Hornet to recognize the 102nd birthday of Alfred J. Payne, a Sunnyvale resident and last known survivor of the USS Hornet (CV-8).<\/p>\n
Payne\u2019s great-granddaughter, April Schuman, who was celebrating her 6th birthday, joined Payne in blowing out candles on a birthday cake shaped like the famed aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n
After joining the U.S. Navy in 1941 at 17 years old and training at Alameda Naval Air Station, Payne served aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) in Hawaii. He maintained F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft propellers, \u201chelping keep the squadron mission-ready,\u201d according to a statement by the USS Hornet Museum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was aboard the Hornet, a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942 in the fight against Japan and helped battle fires after the ship was attacked. It ultimately sank with 140 sailors and aircrew lost alongside it.<\/p>\n
The USS Hornet (CV-12), the floating museum in Alameda, was commissioned and named in the lost ship\u2019s honor.<\/p>\n
A new exhibit on the USS Hornet Museum\u2019s second deck titled, \u201cUSS Hornet: Legacy of the Name,\u201d debuted the same day as Payne\u2019s birthday celebration and tells the story of the original Hornet, its crew and the battles they fought.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Payne\u2019s story bridges the legacy between both Hornets,\u201d museum Executive Director Laura Fies said in a statement. \u201cIt is especially meaningful to formally open this exhibit with his blessing, aboard the ship that carries forward the name and honor of the one he served on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Included in that exhibit is a fragment of the B-25 Doolittle Raider, nicknamed \u201cWhirling Dervish,\u201d a bomber that had crashed in China following the Doolittle Raid, an attack on Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Last year, the museum completed a cultural exchange with the Quzhou Society in China that helped secure the artifact.<\/p>\n