By Sarah Schuch
The Flint Journal
FLUSHING TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- The box Nancy Wilson received in the mail containing the gold heart-shaped medal on a purple ribbon symbolized honor and heartache.
On Oct. 13, Wilson's father was recognized with a Purple Heart that was long overdue.
William H. Cuthbertson Jr., was one of 70 crew members of the submarine USS Grunion that was last heard from on July 30, 1942 when the submarine sent a radio transmission to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, reporting heavy enemy activity from the Japanese.
Now 68 years later, Ensign Cuthbertson and six other Naval officers are being awarded a Purple Heart.
"If I had to choose between having my father and having the Purple Heart, I would have my father," said Wilson, 67, of Genesee County's Flushing Township, near Flint. "It's a loss not only for my generation, but for several generations when you lose somebody at such a young age."
Cuthbertson was 27 when he went missing, before Wilson was born. On Aug. 2, 1943 all crew members on the USS Grunion were declared killed in action.
In 1944, all the enlisted men on the submarine were honored with Purple Hearts which were given to their families. But the seven officers were overlooked.
Mary Bentz, 66, of Maryland was determined to see that changed.
"The Purple Heart is a very, very special award," Bentz said. "One of the most important thing in war is that we never forget the men and women who are asked to fight for our country and then pay the ultimate price. It's the last tribute that will be paid to them."
Bentz started researching families of Grunion crew members in 2006 when the sons of Lt. Commander Mannert Abele led a crew that found a shape resembling the sub in a sonar image near the Aleutian Island of Kiska, the site of the Grunion's final radio transmission.
She was part of the search team that discovered the sub 1,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean in 2007.
After spending a week at the National Archive and Records Administration in St. Louis in 2009, Bentz was able to prove that the seven officers were in fact on the Grunion, died on the submarine and had no record of receiving a Purple Heart.
"It isn't exactly the medal itself (that's important). It is what it represents, what it signifies," she said. "Because, when we ask our young men and young women to fight and possibly die for our country, the country has an obligation, a duty, and a responsibility not to forget."
Bentz first approached the American Battle Monuments Commission in December of 2009 about awarding the medal to the Grunion's officers. She said she was told it could be done, but not right away.
She then approached the Navy POW/MIA/KIA Casualty Assistance Branch, based in Tennessee. By the end of the summer this year Bentz said she was starting to get frustrated.
She finally asked Bruce Abele, the son of a lieutenant commander on the Grunion, to write a letter outlining her case to the chief of Naval Operations.
That was in mid-September. Two weeks later, she received a phone call and things started moving quickly.
"To finally have the (missing in action) business over and to know where your dad is, is such an incredible relief. It was a part of who I was for so many years," Wilson said. "(The Purple Heart) is a nice thing, but it brings back memories."
Published: Wed, Dec 8, 2010
