Alfonso Chavarrias

Alfonso Chavarrias served on board the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) as a gunner's mate third class (GM3). Before joining Intrepid's crew, he served on board the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2). In 1943, he was assigned to Intrepid as a member of the ship's commissioning crew, a plank owner.

On board Intrepid, Chavarrias, who was Latino, oversaw a group of Black sailors, most of whom were steward's mates that also served as anti-aircraft gunners when the ship was under attack. The men were assigned to gun tub 10 on the port side of the ship. On October 29, 1944, a Japanese kamikaze airplane crashed into Gun Tub 10, killing 10 men including Chavarrias. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross in 2001.