The Coast Guard is scheduled Tuesday to posthumously present the families of two Coast Guard members with Purple Hearts in honor of those who received fatal wounds in the sinking of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa Sept. 26, 1918.
The Purple Hearts will be presented to the families of Edward Kelleher and Arthur Deasy. The sinking of the Tampa is the largest known loss of life by any U.S. naval combat unit during World War I with 111 Coast Guardsmen and four Navy sailors.
Kelleher, an Oiler 1st Class from Perry, Oklahoma, and Deasy, the acting quartermaster from Brooklyn, New York, were among the Coast Guardsmen who served aboard the Tampa, a convoy escort protecting ships carrying allied war material in European waters.
The presentation is scheduled to take place at Coast Guard Base Alameda.
Read our full report about the sinking of the Tampa here
