Purple Heart Ceremony [Image 16 of 17]

PROVIDENCE, RI, UNITED STATES

10.05.2015

Photo by Chief Petty Officer James Foehl 

U.S. Navy           

151005-N-PX557-048
PROVIDENCE, R.I.(Oct. 5, 2015) Leonard Harten, former U.S. Navy Soundman and survivor of the attacks that sank the Navajo-class tug USS Nauset (AT-89) during World War II, is presented with a U.S. Navy Sonar Technician rating badge by Command Master Chief Benjamin Pierson, assigned to U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I., following a ceremony awarding Harten the Purple Heart.
Harten enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 14, 1942, and reported to Nauset following completion of Soundman school. On Sept. 9, 1943, while conducting operations in the Gulf of Salerno, a bomb from enemy aircraft exploded in close proximity to Nauset setting her ablaze. As a result of the attack, 19-year old Harten had suffered injuries and was forced to abandon the ship. Despite recovery efforts from the nearby ships, Nauset hit a mine, broke in two and sank. Harten, who was recovered by a nearby ship, was sent to an Army hospital in Africa for treatment.
Delayed by missing records, Harten was presented his Purple Heart on October 5, 2015, by Pierson, the senior ranking Sonar Technician in the region, at Providence VA Medical Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
(U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist James E. Foehl/Released)

• Date Taken: 10.05.2015
• Date Posted: 10.07.2015 12:08
• Photo ID: 2218769
• VIRIN: 151005-N-PX557-048
• Resolution: 2100x1502
• Size: 1.78 MB
• Location: PROVIDENCE, RI, US