#97 First to Fall Memorial

Gridley-Biggs Cemetery
2023 Hwy 99
530-846-2537



This World War II Memorial honors all American veterans and carries the picture and story of area native Warren McCutcheon on the nine-foot tall black granite slab. McCutcheon, who was 17 at the time, is believed to have been the first casualty of the bombing at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 while he served as a machine gunner on the foremast of the U.S.S. Maryland.

Dedicated on Memorial Day, 1996, by retired Navy Admiral John Bitoff, the memorial was erected by V.F.W. Gridley Post 5731 and Biggs Post 3811 with the hope that future generations would "Remember Pearl Harbor" and defend America with that same devotion.