Though not quite "lone", this is the story of the floatplane whose crew saved 20 Miss survivors on 20Nov1944. As the article says, neiher Captain Beck nor his crew knew the identify of the float plane pilot and radioman who risked their lives that day.
We have found out who they were and if they were ever recognized and here's their story along with the story of our search for the complete story.
As Mike Mair and I were looking into all the details of the USS Mississinewa (AO-59) early on, Mike asked me, Ron Fulleman, to see if I could find the principals in the story about the floatplane rescue efforts. Per the documentation from the time of the sinking, he found out there was only one floatplane in the air at the time of the attack. It had been launched from the Light Cruiser, Santa Fe. Its crew consisted of the pilot, Blaise Zamucen, and the Radioman, Russell Evinrude.
Here’s what happened:
I found Blaise Zamucen’s contact information on the internet. But, when calling, I was told that he had died about 6 years earlier and that regrettably, Mrs. Zamucen was in her last day as well. They asked me to call back in a few days.
So, the next thing I did was search Russell Evinrude on the internet. The name being common to anyone who has ever had a boat made me think it would be difficult to find the Evinrude I was looking for. To my surprise, only 4 Russell Evinrudes came up. I called the first one and the woman who answered said, ”Oh, that’s Bertha’s husband, but Russell died about 25 years ago. Let me give you Bertha’s number.” I was thrilled and called right away.
Bertha picked up the phone and I told her who I was and asked her if her husband was in the Navy in WWII. She said he was so my next question was, “Did he ever receive any special recognition for what he had done?”
“Well, I don’t think so, but wait, there is something he had on the wall. It’s still there. Let me go get it.” The very sweet woman came back to the phone and read the certificate that Russell had had on the wall. It was his certificate for making Radioman Second Class. I thanked her. Unfortunately, at this time, I still didn’t know if anyone was ever credited with the heroic efforts.
A few days later, I called the Zamucen residence again and spoke to Blaise’s son, Stephen. He told me his father and Evinrude both were awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for Heroism for their actions that day.
Turns out, Zamucen had told many, many people about his deeds (for which he was rightfully proud). Evinrude hadn’t told anyone, not even his family. Additionally, I found out later that after Zamucen maneuvered the plane so as to blow the flames away as much as possible, Evinrude got out of the plane and shimmied along the fuselage in order to throw a tow rope out for the men in the water to grab in order to be pulled out of the fire zone.
Their citation credited them with saving 20 men from the burning oil. Truely, brave men stepping up.
**A special thanks to Thurman Rat, whose father was a Seabee at Ulithi at the time of the sinking of the "Miss" and who shared the AP-Wire story.
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