Listen below to "Last Battleship: The History, Heroes, and Legacy of the USS Missouri”
S2cRM Donald R. Fosburg
September 2, 1926 - February 12, 2022
Donald R. Fosburg, known to his shipmates as Don, proudly served aboard the Battleship USS Missouri from 1945 to 1946 as a Seaman Second Class Radioman in the CR Division. Born and raised in the farmlands of Galesburg, Illinois, Don joined the U.S. Navy in 1944 at just 17 years old.
As a radioman, his duties included receiving code, typing and routing messages, and maintaining records, a role critical to shipboard communications. On September 2, 1945, Don witnessed history firsthand as the Japanese formally surrendered aboard the Missouri in Tokyo Bay, a day that also marked his 19th birthday.
Following his service, Don returned home to Illinois and attended Augustana College. He later settled in Southern California, where he built a career in the insurance industry, married Adele Skutnik, and together they shared 58 years of marriage. Don was a devoted husband, father to one son, proud grandfather of two grandsons, and great-grandfather to two great-granddaughters.