Kenneth "Husky" Kirkwood

Kenneth "Husky" Kirkwood
Captain, USN

Kenneth “Husky” Kirkwood was born on November 1, 1923, at Roamer’s Roost in Gold Hill, Alabama. The oldest of three, Kirkwood went to Lee County High School until the 10th grade when he transferred to the prestigious Boys High in Atlanta. Kirkwood then attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. His sophomore year was a big year for Husky as he was recognized as one of the 10 most outstanding sophomores and selected as a Squire, which was the highest campus honor for rising sophomores. Husky’s sophomore year was also the year the United States entered into World War 2.

Kirkwood enlisted in the Navy on June 25, 1942, and he was commissioned as an Ensign and Naval Aviator on August 23, 1943. While stationed at the Naval Air Station in Clinton, Oklahoma, Husky met Alice Pozorski, a member of the “WAVES” or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. The two married in the summer of 1944. Husky and Alice were married for 63 and a half years until she passed on February 28, 2008.

After training at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii, Husky was stationed in the South Pacific, where every third day he flew a sector in his PV1, a bomber and patrol aircraft. He left the Navy in 1945 and served in the Naval Reserves Research Company 6-2 at Alabama Polytechnic until 1954. Husky finished his degree in agricultural engineering at Alabama Polytechnic in 1950. Husky served in the Naval Air Reserve in Atlanta until 1973, when he retired as Captain and Staff Commander of NAS Atlanta Reserve base.

For 30 years, Husky delivered the Waverly Post Office mail route, even while carrying on a diversified farming operation which included 100 head of brood cows, timber and grain. Husky has been a lifetime member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Auburn.

"I’ve learned that Husky is a man who never met a stranger, never shunned hard work, never held back the truth and spent his life serving his family, community, church and country. I’m proud to know Captain Kenneth 'Husky' Kirkwood and proud for the veteran’s committee to honor him at as Auburn’s 2015 Distinguished Veteran." - Mayor Bill Ham, Jr.

Captain Kenneth "Husky" Kirkwood passed away on April 6, 2019.