WWII veteran from Kingman County was in Tokyo Bay for Japanese surrender

CHENEY, Kan. (KSNW) — Warren Kinsler was born on a farm near Rolla in southwest Kansas in 1923, meaning that he celebrated his 100th birthday last June.

Kinsler’s family moved to another farm outside of Kingman when he was 12 so he and his siblings could attend school. He has remained on the farm to this day, except for two extraordinary years toward the end of World War II.

Kinsler can recall just about everything.

“I was 28 years old before I got married,” Kinsler said.

Dating back to his childhood.

“It was in the heart of the Dust Bowl in 1935,” Kinsler said.

The Kinslers moved away from Southwest Kansas and settled down on a farm outside of Kingman. That’s where 18-year-old Warren graduated from high school in 1941… the same year of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

“Oh, we had a radio,” Kinsler said. “We heard it on the radio … about Pearl Harbor.”

Three years later, in 1944, Kinsler, whose father was an Army private during World War I, was drafted into the Navy.

“I couldn’t wait to be drafted. I didn’t have a girlfriend at the time. I was one of the few that enjoyed the service,” Kinsler said.

Kinsler was assigned to a brand new Gearing-class Destroyer, the U.S.S. Chevalier, as a water tender, third-class, otherwise known as a boilermaker.

“When this ship was completed, we decided to put a radar tower on it, and it was the first one with this radar tower. So, we took it up Chesapeake Bay and up the Potomac,” Kinsler said. “At that time, it was President Truman, and he come aboard. Of course, naturally, old farm kids like me, to get to see a president is something else.”

The Chevalier cleared the Panama Canal, reached Pearl Harbor in July of 1945, and was part of Task Force 38 that entered Tokyo Bay. The Chevalier, with Warren Kinsler aboard, was in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945, ending World War II.

“I was there. Not on the Missouri. That’s where MacArthur and the Japanese signed it right there with his ship,” Kinsler remembered.

Kinsler says the Chevalier stayed in Tokyo Bay for two or three months before heading back home. He says he was on the battleship from Christmas 1944 until July 1946.

“We put 70,000 some miles on that ship while I was on it. So, we did a lot of floating around,” Kinsler said.

Both of Kinsler’s brothers enlisted. His youngest brother didn’t enlist until Warren returned home to Kingman County.

“I made the mistake of going home and bragging on how much fun I had, and he couldn’t wait to enlist,” Kinsler said. “I don’t know whether it was the grass-skirted girls in Hawaii that turned me on or what.”

Since his military days ended, Kinsler has spent over 70 years on his farm.

“I’ve had a good life. You’re not gonna get much complaints out of me. However, farmers are good at complaining,” Kinsler said.

Beginning in 1980, Kinsler says he and his shipmates met for reunions, and that lasted for about 20 years.

If you want to nominate a veteran for our Veteran Salute, email KSN reporter Jason Lamb at [email protected].