following year, on May 01, 1944, he moved from Seaman 1st class to Signalman 3rd class.  By the time of the kamikaze hit on the KIDD on April 11, 1945, he had progressed to Signalman 2nd class and was about to celebrate his 20th birthday.

As a Signalman, Faufaw's battle station would have placed him on the bridge of the ship.  This area took serious shrapnel damage first from the explosion of the Japanese bomb and then from damaged CO² cylinders stowed on the main deck at the Mess Deck ladder immediately below the bridge which caused secondary explosions. 

Fellow shipmate Bill Gath remembered the last time he spoke with Milford in the wake of the attack.  "I saw them take Ken Faufaw down a vertical ladder in back of the bridge, which you could descend as a shortcut rather than using the inside one.  The last thing he said to me was 'Bill, look what happened to my leg.'  The only thing I could say was 'I'm sorry but have they got a tourniquet on 'ya? That's not the end of the world. We'll make it back.  Just stick in there, and I'll see 'ya down below.'  Well, Ken died about two hours later from shock."

Milford was buried at sea at 1030 the following day on Thursday, April 12, 1945, along with his shipmates while the KIDD was en route back to Ulithi Atoll from the front lines.

This biography was compiled through the efforts of former KIDD crew member Mr. Richard E. Ammon, Jr., who interviewed Milford's mother, Helen Faufaw, by phone in 1999.  At that time, she was the last surviving member of the family.

**Copyright 1997-2011 by Louisiana Naval War Memorial Commission**