07/26/2026
AMMV wishes a very happy 100th birthday this month to Capt. Pete Kurkimilis!
Please sign his e-birthday card here:
https://www.wwiimemorialfriends.org/birthday-card/petro-kurkimilis
Today, we celebrate WWII veteran Petro “Pete” Kurkimilis on the extraordinary occasion of his 100th birthday. His remarkable life has been shaped by courage, service, seamanship, resilience, independence, and a lifetime spent answering the call of duty across oceans and generations.
Petro Kurkimilis was born on July 24, 1926. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Pete was just 15 and a half years old. Within a few months, he had joined the U.S. Merchant Marine and shipped out into a world at war, beginning a life at sea that would become one of the defining forces of his extraordinary journey.
During World War II, Pete participated in numerous convoys, including a dangerous run to Murmansk, Russia. He later served aboard a U.S. troop ship during D-Day. His ship disembarked troops off Omaha Beach and then helped evacuate wounded service members back to England. Still a teenager, Pete found himself part of one of the most important operations of the war, serving with courage and steadiness as history unfolded around him.
Pete was still serving in the Merchant Marine when World War II came to an end. When the Korean War broke out, he again stepped forward, this time joining the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned to a reconnaissance battalion trained to deploy from submarines in rubber rafts. Though he was not deployed to Korea, his willingness to serve once again reflected the same sense of duty that had first carried him to sea as a young man during World War II.
After his time in the Marine Corps, Pete returned to the Merchant Marine, where he would serve for 39 years. He rose through the ranks from able-bodied seaman all the way to captain, building a career marked by skill, discipline, leadership, and deep knowledge of the sea. For two years, from 1965 through 1966, he served as a Panama Canal pilot, where he developed and mastered the ship-handling abilities that would define him as an exceptional mariner.
During the Vietnam War, Pete served as captain of a feeder ship, carrying vital cargo and supplies upriver to Saigon after larger cargo ships unloaded onto his vessel. It was dangerous and essential work, and it marked yet another chapter in a life of service during wartime. Across World War II, the Korean War era, and the Vietnam War, Pete served his country through the U.S. Merchant Marine and the United States Marine Corps with uncommon dedication.
When Pete retired in 1994, he was captain of what was then the largest containership in the world. It was a fitting capstone to a remarkable maritime career that had begun when he was still a teenager and had carried him across oceans, through war, and into positions of great responsibility.
Pete’s strength, spirit, and determination continue to inspire those around him, offering a powerful reminder of the endurance and character of the World War II generation.
Happy 100th Birthday, Petro “Pete” Kurkimilis!
Your life is a powerful example of courage, service, leadership, perseverance, and purpose. From your first days at sea during World War II to your service with the Marine Corps, from the Panama Canal to the rivers of Vietnam, and from able-bodied seaman to captain of one of the world’s largest ships, you have lived a century defined by duty, skill, independence, and strength. Across 100 years, you have shown those around you the lasting meaning of service and the enduring inspiration of a life well lived.
Family, friends, fellow mariners, fellow veterans, community members, and grateful Americans are invited to honor Pete by signing his digital birthday card.
Thanks to Friends of the National World War II Memorial for the above info and photo!
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