Letter of Commendation

MM-540 133

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY

WASHINGTON

MAY 21 1943

From: The Secretary of the Navy.

To: TRAPANESE, Frank Peter, Seaman Second Class, U. S. Coast Guard.

Via: The Commanding Officer, U. S. Coast Guard Cutter #620.

Subject: Commendation.

1. The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in commending you for your brave and gallant attempt to rescue Ensign Gordon G. Behrens, U. S. Naval Reserve, from perishing in the waters of Chesapeake bay, January 12, 1943.

2. A report of the tragedy indicates that seconds after his fighter landplane hurtled over the bow of a nearby warship and crashed into the bay you caught sight of Ensign Behrens' form floating on the surface. Instantly, and without being directed to effect a rescue, you fearlessly plunged from another vessel into the water, which was barely above freezing, and swam out to the pilot despite the danger of your being torn to pieces by the screws of the rescue ships. Faced with the impossibility of securing a firm grasp from the rear because of his heavy flight gear, you skillfully executed a surface dive, came up in front of the Ensign, and held his head above water for ten minutes. Although you yourself, suffering from exposure and desperately exhausted, had to be saved from drowning by two other men arriving at the scene, you managed to hold upon him when a cargo net broke and submerged you both. You valiantly continued to support the pilot in the icy water until a line could be placed around his body and he was raised to the deck.

3. Although subsequent medical attention failed to sustain Ensign Behrens' life, you successfully recovered his body, and the great courage, presence of mind, and unselfish disregard for your own safety which you displayed throughout the emergency were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.

4. A copy of this letter has been made an official part of your record in the Department.

Frank Knox

Frank Trapanese (1923)