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Four Civilian Meteorologists Receive Posthumous Purple Hearts

By Camila Domonoske / NPR
Published November 19, 2015 at 10:51 AM PST
This story was published more than 9 years ago.
Edward Weber, a junior weather observer from New York, was 24 when he died.
Courtesy of the Weber family NOAA
Edward Weber, a junior weather observer from New York, was 24 when he died.

George F. Kubach, an assistant weather observer from Sandusky, Ohio, was 24 when he died.
Courtesy of the Kubach family NOAA
George F. Kubach, an assistant weather observer from Sandusky, Ohio, was 24 when he died.

Luther H. Brady, an assistant weather observer from Atlanta, was 27 when he died in 1942.
1939 University of Georgia yearbook photo NOAA
Luther H. Brady, an assistant weather observer from Atlanta, was 27 when he died in 1942.

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Lester S. Fodor, a weather observer from Cleveland, Ohio, was 27 when he died.
Courtesy of the Fodor family NOAA
Lester S. Fodor, a weather observer from Cleveland, Ohio, was 27 when he died.

The four meteorologists were serving on the the Coast Guard Cutter Muskeget when it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1942.
NOAA
The four meteorologists were serving on the the Coast Guard Cutter Muskeget when it was sunk by a German U-boat in 1942.

Four civilian meteorologists who died during a U-boat attack in World War II posthumously received Purple Heart medals on Thursday.

Lester S. Fodor, George F. Kubach, Edward Weber and Luther H. Brady volunteered to serve on a Coast Guard ship in 1942. Kubach and Weber were 24; Fodor and Brady were 27.

The ship went on weather patrol in the North Atlantic, as NPR's Joe Palca reports for our Newscast division:

"According to historical records, in August 1942, the Coast Guard Cutter Muskeget left Boston Harbor headed for the North Atlantic where it was to collect weather data. "The ship's last weather report was radioed in on September 9. After that, the ship disappeared. "The military later determined that the ship was sunk by enemy fire."

The ship's officers and crew received posthumous Purple Hearts, but the civilian weather forecasters did not. They were eligible for the medal, but never received it, The Washington Post reports.

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As host Ari Shapiro explains on All Things Considered, the oversight was discovered because of a retired map-maker named Robert Pendleton, who found a German U-Boat captain's diary that spoke of the sinking of the Muskeget.

"Automatically it made these civilians that were on board people they owed Purple Hearts to," he says. "And the NOAA people looked at it and decided, 'Yes, OK, now we can give them their Purple Hearts.' "

The medals were awarded to all four men on Thursday — the first time a civilian weather service employee has received such a medal.

As host Ari Shapiro explains on All Things Considered, the oversight was discovered because of a retired map-maker named Robert Pendleton, who found a German U-Boat captain's diary that mentioned the sinking of the Muskeget.

"Automatically it made these civilians that were on board people they owed Purple Hearts to," he says. "And the NOAA people looked at it and decided, 'Yes, OK, now we can give them their Purple Hearts.' "

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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