Monte Gene Kuykendal was born in 1926 (had a twin brother) in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. to Theodore G & Edna Elizabeth Yow Kuykendall. He attended Fort Smith High School. Monte joined the USNR US Navy. His rank was Seaman First Class. He was assigned to the USS Cooper. On November 29, the USS Cooper joined the Seventh Fleet and, three days later, was ordered to move against Ormoc Bay with the destroyers USS Allen M. Sumner and USS Moale. They encountered enemy aircraft on the evening of December 2, and the Cooper shot one down. Spying a Japanese destroyer carrying troops, the Cooper opened fire along with the other vessels, destroying the enemy ship. The Cooper had opened fire on a second Japanese ship when it was hit on the starboard side by a Japanese torpedo. Still firing, the Cooper heeled over on its side and broke in half and sank in less than a minute. The surviving crewmen were in the water for fifteen hours before navy seaplanes arrived to rescue them, hindered by heavy enemy fire. Of the crew of 359 men, 191 died. S1c Kuykendall has a memorial in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Place: Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines