AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Marion L. Nutter, Jr.

Aviation Radioman, Third Class, U.S. Navy

08117893

Patrol Bomber Squadron VPB-17

Entered the Service from: New Jersey
Died: May 25, 1945
Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery
Manila, Philippines

Awards: Purple Heart

Top Row from Left to Right: Marion Nutter, P. Orberdorffer, William S. Cass, Chester Shoemake, Gerry Slick, and Oliver Plumb. Front Row from Left to Right: Ralph Halstead, Robert Bunge, Fredrick W. Forman, Amedo Ligrani, and Robert White

On May 26th LTjg F. W. Forman, Baltimore, Maryland failed to return from a mission. It was not until July that it was found that his plane had been shot down. The only survivors were LT Forman of Baltimore, Maryland and his co-pilot, ENS R. S. Bunge, East Hartford, Conn. They made there way to the China Coast and, on the basis of their evasion and escape knowledge, located friendly Chinese who evacuated them inland to Kunming. Those lost included ENS A. Ligrani, Cass, W. S., AOM3c(T), Shoemake, C. M., AMM1c, Suck, G. R., AOM3c, and White, R. D., ARM3c(T)..."

PBM-5S2 Location: China Sea Strike: Yes Deaths: 11 BUNO: 59126 CAUSE: Enemy Fire "...I, the pilot, and my copilot were the only two survivors of the crash that occurred as a result of enemy fire as we were making a night masthead bombing attack on a Japanese destroyer...VPB-17 was stationed aboard the Seaplane Tender USS Currituck II (AV-7) in Philippines" - Fred W. Forman

"...My name is William Cass. I wrote a poem in memory of my great uncle who was killed on patrol in a PBM on May 25, 1945. I have attached a poem about the Purple Heart his mother received.. William Cass

THE PURPLE HEART
By William Scott Cass in loving memory of William Stephen Cass

At the bottom of the beautiful laden sea,

lies the grave of someone I knew, but never met.

He lived his life as a sailor, but he died as a savior.

The ones he left behind will always

remember his passing, he received a

blessing, that should be in red, not in purple.

The red would stand for the blood

spilt to receive it, the gold

figurehead stands for the First

Commander who gave it.

The colors that hold it stand for the

Glorious Country that cries each time it is given.

On the back of the medal the names are

scrolled to remember those who received it.

The shape is in that of a heart to show

where the true idea of giving it came from.

The purple and gold are in memory of

where you may be now, and where we

someday may join you.