US Navy honors local WWII veteran with Purple Heart

JACKSON, Tenn. — A Navy crew member of Jackson is honored more than 70 years later thanks to modern technology.

The U.S. Navy says the USS Eagle P-E 56 was torpedoed by German submarine U-853 in 1945 and sank off the coast of Maine.

Of the 67 crew stationed aboard, only 13 members survived.

It wasn’t until last year a diving team located the ship using sonar technology.

Now, 72 years later, Seaman First Class James Cunningham, of Jackson, is receiving the Purple Heart he earned as he went down with the ship.

Lt. J.G. John Scagnelli is one of the crew members who survived. He provided his testimony to Cunningham’s family in a letter written a few months after the attack.

Scagnelli recounted the events that led up to the ship’s sinking and the fate of many crew members.

He writes that on the morning of the attack, the USS Eagle was carrying out operational exercises when a large explosion devastated the ship.

The explosion split the ship in half, and it sank within minutes. Cunningham was in his compartment resting during the disaster, dying in a short time without struggle or pain, according to the letter.

A ceremony will be held in the Navy Operational Support Center in Millington at 11 a.m. on Saturday. In the ceremony, Cunningham’s family will accept his honor.

During the ceremony, Navy Personnel Command will present Cunningham’s 85-year-old sister, Clara Cunningham Osborne, with the decoration along with the Navy Gold Star families pin.