WASHINGTON — In his Veterans Day remarks, President Bush recalled the heroic actions of Alonzo A. Swann Jr. during World War II that resulted in him being awarded the Navy Cross.
Swann, whose son Alonzo Swann III is NCUA's Region 3 director, received the award in 1993 after almost 50 years of lobbying on his behalf.
“Alonzo Swann, who on October 29, 1944, here on the deck of the Intrepid, had to help his fellow sailors deal with a kamikaze attack. He saw his best friend burning alive and caught in a gun mount. He rushed into the flames. He attempted to save his buddy, but before he could do so, an ammunition then detonated; nine were killed, six injured, including Alonzo,” Bush said during remarks at the rededication ceremony while on the Intrepid, which has since become a museum.
“If you think you're right, fight your heart out,” Bush quoted the elder Swann as saying.
The elder Swann, who died earlier this year, had already received the Bronze Star, but many thought he had been denied the higher honor because of his race. President Clinton presented him with the award on Nov. 3, 1993, on the Intrepid.
The younger Swann, an Air Force reservist, has been with the NCUA since 1983.
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