Pre-WSC Life
Kirkham grew up in Canada before moving to the Yakima Valley in 1936, where he spent his high school years at Sunnyside High School.
WSC Experience
Kirkham spent only a short time at WSC. He declared himself a Mechanical Engineering major upon enrolling in 1941. However, he left school soon after the outbreak of war in December 1941, joining the U.S. Navy in 1942.
Military Service
A naval aviator, Lieutenant Kirkham could well have survived the war. On his last mission in June 1945 his plane was unscathed; however, his wingman had been hit in the raid over the southernmost Japanese island of Kyushu and was forced to ditch at sea. Kirkham chose to remain with him, circling and radioing their coordinates. Before the seaplanes could arrive to rescue his wingman, Kirkham ran out of fuel. His last transmission read: “I’m going down to join up.” Neither pilot was ever found.
Burial, Recognition, and Remembrance
The U.S. Navy immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of Charles Kirkham’s sacrifice of his own life to try and save his fellow pilot. He was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross, the navy’s second-highest award, as well as the Air Medal and a Purple Heart. Although his body was never recovered, Kirkham’s name is included at the WSU Veterans Memorial. More recently, the local Sunnyside newspaper devoted a two-page feature story to Kirkham for its 2015 Veterans Day edition.
