Veterans of Foreign Wars

History

VFW Barney-Figueroa Post 6271 was named after Hulick G. Barney and Frederico Figueroa, and was officially charted in 1946.

 

Hulick G. Barney
Staff Sergeant
U.S. Army Air Corps
WWII- KIA June 21, 1944

Hulick Barney was born in Arizona in 1923.  He enlisted in the Army on March 3, 1943 in Phoenix.  On May 6, 1944 he was assigned to the 715th Squadron, 448th Bomb Group (Heavy), 8th Air Force, based at Seething, Norfolk, England.  According to MACR (Missing AirCraft Report) # 6231, the B-24-H airplane “Happy Hangover” was reported lost on the second Operation Frantic shuttle mission to Russia on June 21, 1944 due to flak and crashed near Neu Schulzend. Of the ten crewmen, six were reported as POW (Prisoner of War) and four were KIA (Killed in Action). SSG Barney was the Right Waist Gunner on this flight.

 

Frederico Pablo Figueroa
Seaman 2nd Class
U.S. Naval Reserve
WWII- KIA May 11, 1945

Frederico Figueroa was born 30 June 1927.  He entered the service in Arizona. He was stationed aboard the USS Bunker Hill CV-17.  On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, Bunker Hill was hit and severely damaged by two suicide planes. Gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place. The ship suffered the loss of 346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. He is listed as Missing in Action or Buried at Sea in the Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.