Kirk C. Stearns, of Pacific Junction, Iowa, was an Electricians Mate,
First Class in the U.S. Navy assigned to the submarine USS Tullibee, SS 284, lost at sea on
26 March 1944.
A circular run of one of the Tullibee's torpedoes was blamed for her sinking.
Only one man survived this terrible disaster; GM2c C.W. Kuykendall was a lookout on the
bridge during a night surface attack and was later taken prisoner and survived until repatriated
at the end of the war.
EM1 Stearns was a 1940 graduate of Glenwood High school, and enlisted in the navy in
1941. He married the former Jacqueline Godsey of Pacific Junction, Iowa on December 17th, 1943.
Contributed by Edward A. Nielsen
