Captain Elwood Joseph Euart

The Rhode Island Cross was awarded as follows:

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Office of the Adjutant General
Armory of Mounted Commands
1051 North Main Street
Providence 4

8 March 1945

GENERAL ORDERS NUMBER 4

1. In accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 232, as amended, Military Code of Rhode Island, and in recognition of valor, Captain Elwood Joseph Euart, Field Artillery, Army of the United States, is hereby posthumously awarded the Rhode Island Cross in the name of His Excellency John 0. Pastore, Governor of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

2. On the occasion of the sinking of the United States Transport, the President Coolidge, in the Pacific, on 26 October 1942, Captain Euart was Troop Moss Officer on duty in the enlisted non's mess hall. Upon the alarm, he personally checked the clearing of that area. Having safely reached his abandon-ship station, he learned of men trapped in the hold, and immediately without consideration for his own safety, went to that point. By lashing himself to the low end of a rope, he was able to hold it tight enough for men to climb to safety even though the ship was badly listing. When he attempted to ascend after all were cleared, the ship careened and sank quickly. Captain Euart exhausted himself assisting many others whose lives were spared, at the expense of his own. The nobility of this service won the posthumous award of the Distinguished Service Cross.

3. Humbly and proudly, the State of Rhode Island awards its highest decoration to this unselfish and heroic soldier recognizing in him the peculiar glory that attaches itself to those who die in greatness.

BY COMMAND OF THE GOVERNOR:

James A. Murphy Brigadier General
Acting Adjutant General

This was awarded in the State House in Providence, Rhode Island, on Saturday morning, 17 April 1948 at 10:30 am. The room was filled to capacity with relatives, personal friends, military comrades, members of the clergy and representatives of Rhode Island State College, the public schools, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Boy Scouts (Elwood was a Boy Scout for six and a half years).

The Color Guard was furnished by Capt. Elwood J. Euart Post No. 602 (I assume that this the Boy Scout troop that Elwood was in, renamed in his honour) , Veterans of Foreign Wars. Ushers were provided by the Sea Scout Ship Elwood Euart (again, named after Elwood) and the Eagle Scouts of Rhode Island.

Captain Euart's father and mother, Mr and Mrs Elwood F.A. Euart and his sisters, Rita, Monica-Eleanor and Ruth, and his brothers, John and Leonard, occupied seats of honor. Mrs Euart was decorated with the Cross.

The Distinguished Service Cross was awarded on 7 April 1943, with a citation similar to that accompanying the Rhode Island Cross (above).

In addition, the following things were named or erected in honour of Captain Euart.

Camp Euart was named at Mangere Crossing, Auckland, New Zealand, on 2 June 1943.

Euart Passage, the western entrance of the main channel at Espirito Santo, New Hebrides, named on 12 October 1943.

Euart Field, Army Recreation Center at Espirito Santo, named on 12 October 1943.

The monument to Capt. Euart was erected at Espirito Santo in 1943.

The above details come from The Casey Family Page on Elwood Euart.

Patrick Carl Olson

The President of the United States takes Pleasure in Presenting the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal to Patrick Carl Olson, Chief Mate on SS President Coolidge 10/26/42
For heroism beyond the line of duty.

SS President Coolidge was landing army personnel when she hit two mines in quick succession. Listing heavily and sinking rapidly, she was run aground on a reef to gain time to debark the troops. Olson was making a final search for stragglers or injured when the ship rolled over port side. Hauling himself up the slanting deck he reached the starboard side which was now nearly horizontal and only a few feet out of water, when he heard cries for help coming from deep within the hull [note: these were from Elwood Euart]. By this time the ship, pounded by the surf, was slowly sliding, stern first, off into deep water, but Olson, completely disregarding his own safety, crawled to an open side port from whence the cries came.

An army officer [Elwood Euart] had been trapped by the rising water in the ship's hull, and the critical angle of the smooth deck made unaided escape impossible. Olson made several attempts to lower a rope ladder only to have it blown away from the outstretched hands of the drowning man by the blast of escaping air forced out of the ship by the rapidly rising water. Quantities of broken glass and other debris, blown through the vent with great velocity, cut into Olson's face and arms, but he persisted in his heroic rescue attempt until the ship suddenly slipped to the bottom sucking Olson down with her. When the ship struck bottom and the vacuum of her plunge was broken, a violent discharge of imprisoned air shot Olson to the surface where he was soon picked up by a rescue boat.

Though unsuccessful in his heroic attempt, his magnificent courage, which sustained him literally into the depths of death, was in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Merchant Marine.

For the President
Admiral Emory Scott Land

John L. Paton

The President of the United States takes Pleasure in Presenting the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal to John L. Paton, First Engineer on SS President Coolidge 10/26/42
For heroism above and beyond the line of duty.

When his ship hit two mines, it immediately listed heavily. All lights below decks were blown out, and the wrecked engine room began to fill. A fireman, crippled by the explosion and severely burned, was trapped in the fireroom. The only possible means for his rescue was a fireroom ventilator to the boat deck, but its smooth, slippery walls made it impossible for him, in his crippled condition, to effect his own escape. With the ship then sinking rapidly, Paton and the Chief Engineer entered the ventilator outlet on the boat deck, and lowered themselves into the darkness to the fireroom deckplates. Disregarding the increasing danger of their own position, the rescuers slowly worked their arduous way up the slippery ventilator carrying the injured man with them.

Engineer Paton's extraordinary courage in rescuing a shipmate under extremely dangerous conditions will be an enduring inspiration to seamen of the United States Merchant Marine everywhere.

For the President
Admiral Emory Scott Land

Howard Quinn

The President of the United States takes Pleasure in Presenting the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal to Howard Quinn, Chief Engineer on SS President Coolidge 10/26/42
For heroism beyond the line of duty.

When his ship hit two mines, it immediately listed heavily and all lights below decks were blown out--and the engine room began to fill rapidly. A fireman, severely burned and crippled by the double explosion had been trapped in the fireroom and was in imminent danger of drowning. The only possible way to reach him was through a ventilator to the boat deck, but the vessel's extreme list and the smooth and slippery walls of the ventilator made even this means of rescue well-nigh impossible. Though the ship was sinking rapidly, Chief Engineer Quinn and his First Assistant, with complete disregard for the increasing danger to their own position and without the aid of other than their own hands lowered themselves down the ventilator into the darkness to the fireroom floor plates. Under tremendous physical exertion the rescuers slowly worked their hazardous way up the slippery ventilator carrying the injured man with them.

Chief Engineer Quinn's extraordinary courage in rescuing a shipmate under extremely dangerous conditions will be an enduring inspiration to seamen of the United States Merchant Marine everywhere.

For the President
Admiral Emory Scott Land

These details came from US Maritime Marine Web Site.

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