- Mrs. Nellie Schoyen, 802 Hemlock Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan, is in receipt of the Mariner's Medal awarded by the War Shipping Administration, Washington, D.C., in commemoration of the service of her nephew, the late Albert Earl Wihs, who lost his life when his ship, the SS Pan New York, was torpedoed & sunk by the enemy.
By authority of the Congress of the United Stares, it is my honor to present you, the aunt of Albert Earl Wihs, the Mariner's Medal in commemoration of the greatest service anyone can render cause or county.
Wihs was lost when his ship, the SS Pan New York, was torpedoed & sunk by the enemy. He was one of those men who today are so gallantly upholding the traditions of those hearty mariners who defied anyone to stop the Republic.
He was one of those men upon whom the Navy now depends to keep our ships afloat upon the perilous seas; to transport our troops across those seas & to carry to them to vitally needed material to keep them fighting until victory is certain & liberty secure.
Nothing I can do or say will, in any sense, requite the loss of your loved one. He has gone but he has gone in honor & in the goodly company of patriots.
Let me, in this expression of the country's deep sympathy, also express to you its gratitude for his devotion & sacrifice.
Wihs was a veteran of 14 years service in the United States Navy. He was also a nephew of Mrs. Catherine Luke, 802 Hemlock Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan.
Source: January 3, 1945, Daily News, Iron Mountain, Dickinson, Michigan.
|
1878 - 1954 (75 years)