Since the advent of Mao Tse-tung’s government, the system of Pinyin has been in use in the People’s Republic of China. I use the Wade-Giles system because it was used during McKenna’s time. To prevent confusion, I have placed the Pinyin spelling in parentheses when a term is first used in the narrative: for instance, Tientsin (Tianjin), Peking (Beijing), and Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong).
Also, the Navy’s system of abbreviations for ranks has changed throughout the years. For example, in 1933 the abbreviation listed in the USS Gold Star logbook for lieutenant commander was “Lieut. Comdr.,” but by the 1950s the USS Van Valkenburgh logbook used the abbreviation “CDR” for commander. A chief petty officer in the machinist’s mate rating was abbreviated as CMM in 1940, but by 1950 it was MMC. To avoid confusion, I have used the contemporary standard for all officer ranks and enlisted ratings.
Finally, I have used the twenty-four-hour system for recording times: 2:00 a.m. is 0200 and 2:00 p.m. is 1400. This system was used during McKenna’s time in the military and is still in use in the modern-day military.
If this biography of Richard McKenna helps keep his name alive in the annals of naval history and sheds light on the little-known enlisted sailors of his era as they were, then the book will have served its purpose.
This book could not have been written without the significant assistance of the individuals listed in no particular order in this paragraph. I would like to thank James and Louise Crain, who gave the McKenna papers to the Richard McKenna Charter High School, in Mountain Home, Idaho, to preserve the story and memory of Richard McKenna, and José Madarieta, of the Richard McKenna Charter High School, who established the Richard McKenna Collection. Mark Mollan, Navy/Maritime Reference, Archives I, Textual Services Branch, went above and beyond the call of duty to cheerfully track down information on McKenna. His attitude makes “digging” in the National Archives a pleasure. Candace Clifford, Alexandria, Virginia, spent much time in the holdings of the National Archives digitizing records for writing this book, not only producing outstanding images but also making sure they were properly cited; she always alerted me to extra material and contacted me if she had any questions. U.S. representative Derek Kilmer (D-Washington) and staff member Nicholas Jay Carr paved the way for me to obtain McKenna’s personnel record. Dr. Niels J. Zussblatt, management analyst, National Personnel Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration, St. Louis, Missouri, personally photocopied Richard McKenna’s service record.
At Mountain Home Principal Larry Slade and the teachers, staff, and students of the Richard McKenna Charter High School made my research enjoyable. I would especially like to thank James Alexander; John Hiler, Mountain Home historian; Mir Seyedbagheri, Elmore County extension agent; and Louise House, library director.
I would also like to thank Paul A. Cogan, Archives II, Reference Section, National Archives and Records Administration.
At the U.S. Coast Guard, in no particular order, I would like to thank Capt. Michael F. White; Capt. John Koster; Cdr. Thomas Griffitts; Michiko Iwata; Capt. Casey J. White; CMC Michael Ellis; MCPOCG Michael Leavitt and YNCM Bobbie Sisto of MCPOCG Leavitt’s office; CMC Jason Vanderhaden; Dr. Robert Browning; Dr. William Thiesen; and MCPOCG Vincent Patton III, USCG (Ret.).
At the U.S. Navy, in no particular order, I would like to thank James Allen Knechtmann, senior reference librarian; Nellie S. Moffitt of the Navy General Library Program; Stephanie Pezzella; Lt. Callie Ferrari, USN; Lt. Cdr. Heidi Lenzini, USN; and Michael G. Rhode.
Loren Alice Noble read drafts of the manuscript, accompanied me on research trips to Mountain Home, and had to listen to my continual stories of McKenna. Dr. Thomas McCurdy and Gregg Shield offered outstanding suggestions that greatly improved the work.
Tracy Ellen Smith produced the great map for this book.
Others who helped include Bill Wells, Truman Strobridge, Karen S. Kilgore, and Wendy Oak, interlibrary loan librarians at the North Olympic Library System, Port Angeles, Washington. Gary and Jan Holmquist of Port Angeles introduced me to David Tamaki, who helped with translation of Japanese material. Yoichi Hiokata of Peninsula College also provided me with excellent translations of Japanese material. I would like to thank the John McCulloch Tuesday Lunch Group at Port Angeles, Washington—John McCulloch, Dr. Thomas McCurdy, Carl Gay, Jim McEntire, and Ray Gruver—for putting up with sea stories and tales of McKenna.
Series editor Gene Allen Smith first recognized the importance of this biography, as did his coeditor James C. Bradford. At the Naval Institute Press, acquisitions editor Adam Nettina went above and beyond the call of duty to help me. Others at the press contributed to the publication of this book, including Rick Russell, Susan Corrado, Nick Lyle, Claire Noble, and Judy Heise. Also, copy editor Julie Kimmel did outstanding work.
All of these people—and those not listed, who I hope will forgive me for my oversight—made this biography a pleasure to write. Any omissions or factual errors are mine.
In 1966 a Hollywood epic captivated moviegoers across the United States. Directed by Robert Wise and starring Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen, The Sand Pebbles ran a long 182 minutes. The production introduced many Americans to the little-known China Station of the 1920s by focusing on an enlisted sailor serving in a U.S. Navy river gunboat on the Yangtze River. The novel of the same name, written by Richard McKenna, is arguably the best fictional work about U.S. sailors serving in the Middle Kingdom. Historian George V. Traylor notes that McKenna’s book, although not a work of history, is “an excellent source for those who rarely read history to understand the 1920s in China and life as an enlisted sailor during those years.” Richard McKenna’s life was as interesting as his novel, which allowed a glimpse at a career enlisted sailor’s service in an era that ended at the outbreak of World War II. McKenna, however, served from the 1930s until his retirement in 1953 and then began a new career as a novelist, drawing inspiration from his experiences during his many years in the Navy.1
Richard Milton McKenna was born on 9 May 1913 in the small southwestern Idaho community of Mountain Home in Elmore County. The county is bounded by two waterways—the Snake River in the south and the Boise River in the north—and encompasses more than three thousand square miles, more than twice the area of Rhode Island. Sixty percent of the land is mountainous, with altitudes ranging from twenty-five hundred feet to more than ninety-seven hundred feet, more than two thousand feet higher than any mountain in the East Coast’s Appalachian Mountains. The northern portion of the county is in the high country but slopes in a southerly direction to flatter land where cattle ranching, sheep herding, and other small agriculture predominate. Mountain Home falls into the climatic classification of semiarid.
In the early years of Elmore County, the aptly named Rattlesnake Junction, nestled in a mountainous area some seven miles northeast of the current Mountain Home, boasted a post office. People living in the settlement not too surprisingly changed the name of their town to Mountain Home, hoping to encourage more people into the area. When the Oregon Short Line Railroad entered the flatter desert area of the region in 1883, the post office moved to a more accessible location and thus began the present Mountain Home.
Mrs. Minnie Howard came to Mountain Home on 10 August 1890. Forty-nine years later, she
