A WWII hero and the ship on which he served honored

Sierra Lopez, The Mercury News on May 6, 2026

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ALAMEDA, Calif. — A new World War II exhibit and a long-time war hero of the era were celebrated Monday in Alameda.

Over 50 friends, family, and community members gathered aboard the USS Hornet to recognize the 102nd birthday of Alfred J. Payne, a Sunnyvale resident and last known survivor of the USS Hornet (CV-8).

Payne’s great-granddaughter, April Schuman, who was celebrating her 6th birthday, joined Payne in blowing out candles on a birthday cake shaped like the famed aircraft carrier.

After joining the U.S. Navy in 1941 at 17 years old and training at Alameda Naval Air Station, Payne served aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) in Hawaii. He maintained F4F Wildcat fighter aircraft propellers, “helping keep the squadron mission-ready,” according to a statement by the USS Hornet Museum.

He was aboard the Hornet, a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942 in the fight against Japan and helped battle fires after the ship was attacked. It ultimately sank with 140 sailors and aircrew lost alongside it.

The USS Hornet (CV-12), the floating museum in Alameda, was commissioned and named in the lost ship’s honor.

A new exhibit on the USS Hornet Museum’s second deck titled, “USS Hornet: Legacy of the Name,” debuted the same day as Payne’s birthday celebration and tells the story of the original Hornet, its crew and the battles they fought.

“Mr. Payne’s story bridges the legacy between both Hornets,” museum Executive Director Laura Fies said in a statement. “It is especially meaningful to formally open this exhibit with his blessing, aboard the ship that carries forward the name and honor of the one he served on.”

Included in that exhibit is a fragment of the B-25 Doolittle Raider, nicknamed “Whirling Dervish,” a bomber that had crashed in China following the Doolittle Raid, an attack on Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Last year, the museum completed a cultural exchange with the Quzhou Society in China that helped secure the artifact.