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DONALD J. KANNITZER 

Cadet Donald J. Kannitzer was out at sea on December 28, 1944 when his ship, the SS John Burke, was struck by a Japanese kamikaze.  It was struck at 0820 local time off of Mindoro Island in the Phillipines.  It was en route to Mindoro via Leyte from Pearl Harbor, carrying a full load of ammunition.  When the plane struck, the ship exploded and ignited the stored munitions.  The ship’s explosion was so large that when the smoke cleared, there was nothing left, no one on board survived.  Forty merchant crew and twenty eight naval armed guard perished on the SS John Burke.  The explosion also sank a small US army transport freighter immediately astern.  Only one man survived from that ship.