Navy Sailor posthumously awarded Purple Heart at Hanscom AFB ceremony

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. - A U.S. Navy Sailor received the Purple Heart nearly 82 years after being injured during the World War II D-Day invasion June 6, 1944.

Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Joseph Tryon was posthumously awarded the medal during a ceremony here March 20. His son, Thomas, accepted the award in his honor.

"There is a common refrain, 'Sailors are made for ships and ships are made for sea,'" said Navy Capt. Scott Wallace, commander Defense Contracting Management Agency Northeast and ceremony presiding officer. "Whether Joseph had heard that when he joined, I can only guess, but over his Navy career he certainly spent more than his fair share of time at sea."

Tryon enlisted in the Navy on April 26, 1943.

After boot camp, he reported to USS Corry II (DD 463), where he served as a fireman in the ship's engine room.

In June 1944, Corry II was assigned to escort ships and troop transports across the English Channel in preparation for the D-Day invasion.

During the early morning hours of June 6, the ship engaged in efforts to penetrate the German-defended coast of France, first leading Allied landing craft to the far western edge of Utah Beach, then, shelling enemy positions in the Bay of Seine.

"As a fireman, Joe would have been at his post in the engine room," Wallace said. "He, along with the rest of the engineering department, would have been tweaking the engines and the systems to ensure that the system maintained maximum power and that all of the mechanical and electrical systems were operational and ready to go."

During the battle in the Bay of Seine, the ship hit a mine. The blast caused immediate flooding in the forward engine room, knocked out all electrical power and jammed the rudder as it was making a hard right turn and accelerating.

In the engineering space, water rushed through the hole the blast created, and the main deck of the ship began to split.

"He [Joe] would have been at his post for several hours with hot machinery, dim lighting and the smell of lubricating oil permeating the very confined space where he was working," Wallace said.

The crew abandoned ship and spent several hours in frigid waters as German munitions peppered the area before they were eventually rescued.

In total, 24 Corry II Sailors were killed and 60 injured during the D-Day invasion.

Tryon suffered a lacerated scalp when the ship was hit by a German shell during the assault.

He recovered from his injuries, was found fit for duty and assigned to USS Wilkes-Barre (CL 103). Tryon would remain aboard Wilkes-Barre through the war and participated in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Tryon was honorably discharged from the Navy Nov. 19, 1945. He returned to civilian life with his wife, Helen, and the couple went on to have four children: Mary Ann, Jane, Joseph Jr. and Thomas.

He died in 1956 at the age of 43.

In addition to the Purple Heart, his awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze stars, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four bronze stars, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze star, Honorable Reserve Discharge Button and Honorable Service Lapel Pin.

The Purple Heart, established by Gen. George Washington, is awarded to those wounded or killed in combat.

D-Day marks the Allied invasion of France during World War II.

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