United States Navy personnel of World War II

Wendell Wise Mayes Jr. (March 2, 1924 – September 12, 2021) was an American radio and cable television executive in Austin, Texas, who was known for his leadership roles with the American Diabetes Association and the International Diabetes Federation.
The American Diabetes Association presents the Wendell Mayes Jr. Award for Lifetime Service, its highest award given to non-medical professional volunteers, to honor members for their lifetime achievement. He was the initial recipient of the award in 1986. Mayes was also a longtime supporter of education, earning five college degrees and establishing scholarships and awards at five higher education institutions in Texas.

Merrill Glend "Pinky" May (January 18, 1911 – September 4, 2000) was an American professional baseball player and third baseman who appeared in 665 games in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1939 through 1943. He later became a longtime manager in the minor leagues and fashioned a 40-year career in organized baseball. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and was the father of former longtime major league catcher Milt May.

Charles Fountain Willis, Jr. (July 23, 1918 – March 16, 1993) was an American political campaigner and low level government official.
Willis was born in Beaumont, Texas, and earned a B.A. from the University of Florida in 1939.
During World War II, Willis was a commander in the Naval Air Arm of the United States Navy. He served as a patrol pilot, a bomber pilot, and a fighter pilot. His efforts earned the Distinguished Flying Cross three times, three Air Medals, and a Purple Heart.
After the war, Willis entered private industry and founded Willis Air Service in 1946. In 1951, Willis and Stanley M. Rumbough Jr. co-founded the "Citizens for Eisenhower" movement in an attempt to secure the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Willis continued his work for the Eisenhower campaign in 1952 by joining the campaign staff. He is credited for coining the iconic political slogan, "I Like Ike."After Eisenhower's election in late 1952, Willis joined Eisenhower's staff and served as assistant to the assistant to the president from January 23, 1953, until June 30, 1955.Following Willis' departure from the White House, he served as assistant to the chairman of W. R. Grace and Company until 1957 when he became president of Alaska Airlines.
He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.

Merrill Everett Moore (26 September 1923 – 14 June 2000) was an American swing and boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader whose style influenced rockabilly music during the 1950s.
He was born in Algona, Iowa, and learned piano as a child. By the age of 12 he was performing occasionally on a Des Moines radio station. After leaving school he joined the Chuck Hall Band, which played in local ballrooms, before serving in the US Navy during World War II. He then married, and moved with his wife to Tucson, Arizona and then San Diego, where he worked as a clothes salesman and performed in clubs, often with guitarist Arkie Geurin. He became a full-time musician in 1950, and formed his own band, the Saddle, Rock and Rhythm Boys, who played boogie-woogie and Western swing at the Buckaroo Club. He signed with Capitol Records in 1952 and recorded a string of singles, the most successful of which was a version of "The House of Blue Lights" in 1953. Ken Nelson of Capitol Records invited him to take part in a national tour, but Jimmy Kennedy, the owner of the Buckaroo Club, refused to allow Moore to break his contract to take part.According to Steve Huey of Allmusic, Moore's "unique style fused Western swing, boogie-woogie, and early R&B in a melting pot that many critics felt was a distinct influence on rockabilly, especially Jerry Lee Lewis." His music was later highly regarded by rockabilly fans, especially in Europe, although Moore himself said: "We didn't have the idea we were pioneering anything. We were just trying to make a living.... Rock and roll to me was a completely different sound. The rhythm section was incomplete, it was too hard, and it didn't swing...."
Moore continued to record for Capitol in the 1950s, but in 1955 walked out on his contract with Kennedy and moved to Los Angeles. There, he became a regular, along with Tennessee Ernie Ford, on Cliffie Stone's radio program Hometown Jamboree, and also worked as a session pianist for Capitol, appearing on records by Tommy Sands, Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Kay Starr and others. In 1962 he moved back to San Diego, and returned to playing hotels and clubs.He died from cancer in 2000, at the age of 76.

John H. Connors (December 2, 1922 – March 7, 2009) was an American politician in the state of Iowa. Connors was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended high school there, and then the Harvard University Trade Union Program. He served in World War II with the United States Navy Reserve. He was a firefighter in the Des Moines Fire Department. In 1945 he married Marjorie Leonard. He has four children. Connors served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 2005 as a Democrat. He served the 64th district from 1973 to 1981, and the 68th district from 1981 to 2005. He died in Des Moines in 2009, at the age of 86.

Lewis Burr Anderson (May 7, 1922 – May 14, 2006) was an American actor and musician. He is widely known by TV fans as the third and final actor to portray Clarabell the Clown on Howdy Doody between 1954 and 1960. He famously spoke Clarabell's only line on the show's final episode in 1960, with a tear visible in his right eye, "Goodbye, kids." Anderson is also widely known by jazz music fans as a prolific jazz arranger, big band leader, and alto saxophonist. Anderson also played the clarinet.

Clarence Dickinson "Doc" Long, Jr. (December 11, 1908 – September 18, 1994) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman who represented the 2nd congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1963, to January 3, 1985.
Long was born in South Bend, Indiana. He received his bachelor's degree from Washington and Jefferson College in 1932, and his master's degree and Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1935 and 1938, respectively. His doctoral dissertation was titled "Long cycles in the building industry business, public, and residential building in United States cities, 1856-1935." He also served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was a former member of the United States Council of Economic Advisers to the President (1953–54 and 1956–57) and in the 1930s was a professor of economics at Wesleyan University and later Johns Hopkins University (1946–1963). Long voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Long became Chairman of the subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the House Appropriations Committee. In this role he supervised the foreign aid budget. Long's support for the anti-Soviet Mujahideen was recounted in the film Charlie Wilson's War, in which Long was played by Ned Beatty. Long was defeated for re-election by Republican Helen Delich Bentley in 1984.

Kenneth Marshall Watson (September 7, 1921 – August 18, 2023) was an American theoretical physicist and physical oceanographer.

Robert Rudolph Balcena (August 1, 1925 – January 5, 1990) was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs during the 1956 season. He had two at-bats and scored two runs as a pinch runner.
Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 160 pounds (73 kg), Balcena batted right-handed and threw left-handed. He was born in San Pedro, California.
Prior to playing professional baseball, Balcena served in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II with the United States Navy.Balcena became the first player of Asian American and Filipino ancestry to appear in a major league game. He had a long distinguished Triple-A career with the Seattle Rainiers as a center fielder in the 1950s; one paper described him as a "popular miniature dynamo of almost infallible perpetual motion" after his Rainier team won the 1955 Pacific Coast League title.He also played from 1952 through 1962 in the Minor Leagues, including stints with the Leones del Caracas and the Industriales de Valencia in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.
He batted .284 with 134 home run and 441 runs batted in in 1948 minor league games. In a VPBL two-season career, he posted a .306 average with five homers and 44 RBI in 87 games.
After his baseball career ended, he worked as a longshoreman in Seattle where he had played parts of four seasons in the minor leagues.Despite being the first Filipino-American to play in the major leagues, Balcena kept company with Slavs during his life. His union president told the Los Angeles Times that he was an "honorary Slav. He always r[a]n around with the San Pedro Slavs. He speaks Slav. He sings Slav." Outside of his professional career, he also played baseball with an amateur team of Yugoslav Americans.Balcena died in his hometown of San Pedro, California at the age of 64.

Joseph Edward Bockman (July 26, 1920 – September 29, 2011) was an American professional baseball third baseman and scout, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1946), Cleveland Indians (1947), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1948–1949). During his playing days, Bockman stood 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), weighing 175 pounds (79 kg); he batted and threw right-handed. His younger brother, Morley Bockman, played Minor League Baseball (MiLB) for the Riverside Rubes, in the Sunset League, among other teams.