Snavely Max

Personal Information

Birthplace: Valley Center Township

Service Information

Branch of Service: Navy

Unit: USS Shangri-La

Theater of Operation: Pacific

Enlisted / Commissioned: Nov 11, 1942

Highest Rank: Ensign

Honored By: The Eisenhower Foundation

Biography

Max Snavely was born on September 3, 1923 in Valley Center Township, Sedgwick County, Kansas. He was working as a jig builder with Dickens, Inc before enlisting in the Navy November 11, 1943 in Kansas City. Snavely served in the Pacific with the Air fighting Group 85. A pilot of a Corsair. The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. The Corsair was designed and operated as a carrier-based aircraft, and entered service in large numbers with the U.S. Navy in late 1944 and early 1945. It quickly became one of the most capable carrier-based fighter-bombers of World War II. Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II and its naval aviators achieved an 11:1 kill ratio. Snavely flew 18 missions from the carrier USS Shangri-La. He returned home to his wife Dora of Parson, KS. Courtesy of the Wichita Eagle and Wikipedia.