Kenneth Wayne Vandenburg

Kenneth Wayne VanDenburg, age 86 of Hastings passed away June 28, 2012 at his residence.

He was born October 22, 1925 in Hastings the son of George and Ruth (Schiefla) VanDenburg. Ken attended and graduated from Hastings High School.

Ken enlisted in the Navy March 3, 1944. After boot training his second assignment was aboard the USS Wasp. It should be noted that there was an aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV7) which was sunk Sept. 15, 1942. It was traveling with the USS Hornet (CV8) and 11 other warships escorting transports carrying Marines to Guadalcanal. Shortly before 3 pm the Wasp was struck by two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine not far from San Cristobal Island. By 4 pm Capt. Sherman determined that he was the last man alive on the vessel, and was the last man to leave. The Wasp finally sank about 9 pm. There were 193 men killed, 1,946 rescued. The aircraft carrier Saratoga had been severely damaged by Japanese torpedoes and was out of commission for several months, leaving only the aircraft carriers Hornet and Enterprise active in the Pacific, and the Enterprise was barely serviceable. So, two and one half years later found Ken serving on a second Wasp. This Wasp (CCD-3) was hit by a suicide bomber which put a bomb through the hangar deck March 19, 1945, but the vessel remained in action. It was later blown up and sank near Hawaii. After this Ken saw some action on the aircraft carrier USS Bennington, which as launched on the east coast in lat 1944 and was at Pearl Harbor in early 1945. It saw considerable excitement off the coast of Japan, Leyte and Iwo Jima.  The Bennington endured a typhoon June 5 with winds over 90 mph and waves up to 50 feet high and of such strength that thy buckled a 35 foot section of the flight deck. Ken's specialty aboard ship was radio operator, and his nickname on the Bennington was "Speedy". Seaman 1 ^st Class VanDenburg returned to the states aboard the Bennington to be discharged May 5, 1946, at Great Lakes Naval Station. He earned the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars, the American Ara Campaign Medal and the Victory Medal. Sometime in the next 21 months he married, and then on Feb. 21, 1948 enlisted in the Army at Dearborn. He served nearly 10 months with the 7 ^th Infantry Regiment at Fort Devens, Mass., and was discharged as a private first class Dec. 15, 1948 at Fort Bank, Mass.

Between his enlistments he farmed, and his first marriage produced 5 children: Terry, Kenneth, Michael, Karen and Darrell. In 1973 he married Klasiena Stamm, now there would also be Robert, Cynthia, Bonnie and James.

He was a man of many talents, he did factory work, auto body repair, painted cars and planes. Ken played guitar and ukulele and was a great singer. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, working on the farm, cutting wood, playing pool and bowling. Ken enjoyed traveling with family, seeing all 50 states except Alaska. He especially enjoyed traveling to northern Michigan.

Ken is survived by his wife Klasiena M. VanDenburg of Hastings; children: Ken VanDenburg, Terry VanDenburg, Michael (Mary) VanDenburg, Darrell (Bambi) VanDenburg and Karen Aspinall, Robert (Barbara) Afman, Cynthia Lake, Bonnie Meyers, James (Angie) Raulston and grandchildren: George, Tina, Wayne, Terry, Jeremy, Beth, April, Kerri Jo, Kenna, Tressa, Nicolette, Becky, Barb, Kasey, Owen, Klasiena, Dave Jr, James and Jamie.

Memorial Contributions:
Lawrence J. Bauer American Legion Post #45
2160 S. M-37 Hwy.
Hastings, MI 49058

Graveside Memorial Service:
Saturday, July 14, 2012 @ 1:00 pm
Rutland Township Cemetery
Rutland Township

Luncheon immediately following service:
Hastings Moose Lodge
128 N. Michigan
Hastings, MI
2:00 pm until 4:00 pm