Ceremony held to honor World War II hero from Long Island
NEW YORK -- A ceremony was held Thursday at the Intrepid to honor a Long Island man who became a World War II hero.
A new Coast Guard cutter was commissioned, named after Clarence Sutphin Jr.
In 1944, when Coast Guard troops arrived in the Pacific theatre, Sutphin braved intense enemy fire to save lives. It was the D-Day of the Pacific, a pivotal battle that helped win World War II.
Sutphin died at age 78 without ever sharing his heroic act with family members.
"When my brother was a boy, he came across my father's old foot locker and in it, found, among newspaper clippings and letters, my dad's bronze star. He asked Dad about it, and my dad dismissed it as 'just something I got during the war,'" said Mona Rossero, Sutphin's daughter.
The 154-foot vessel is part of the Coast Guard's humanitarian presence overseas and will also provide combat-ready assets for the Navy.