Not forgotten

 In honor of Memorial Day, I thought I'd repost this entry from an old blog I had.  The lieutenant was one of my great uncles.

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Lieutenant George Schuncke

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant George William Schuncke, United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Combat Plane in Composite Squadron SIXTY-FIVE (VC-65), attached to the U.S.S. ST. LO (CVE-63), in action
against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan in the Marianas Islands on 2 July 1944. Lieutenant Schuncke valiantly launched an attack against two Japanese armored cars firing on a U.S. Navy seaplane. Despite the terrific and concentrated anti-aircraft fire he flew in low to attack, holding persistently to the heavily armored targets until his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed behind enemy lines. His courageous initiative and determined aggressiveness were directly instrumental in saving the seaplane from probable destruction and reflect the highest credit on himself and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 338 (May 1945)

His ship didn't long survive him.

USS St. Lo

The St. Lo, hit by a kamikaze, doomed, Battle off Samar 10-25-44.

At 10:47, the task unit came under a concentrated air attack by the Shikishima Special Attack Unit. A Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero—perhaps flown by Lieutenant Yukio Seki—crashed into the flight deck of St. Lo at 10:51. Its bomb penetrated the flight deck and exploded on the port side of the hangar deck, where aircraft were in the process of being refueled and rearmed. A gasoline fire erupted, followed by six secondary explosions, including detonations of the ship's torpedo and bomb magazine. St. Lo was engulfed in flame and sank 30 minutes later.Of the 889 men aboard, 113 were killed or missing and approximately 30 others died of their wounds.

William was a descendent of  Christian Ludwig Schuncke, the early 19th century German pianist, composer and close friend of Robert Schumann.