Forrest O. Rednour (1923–1943) was a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

sman who received the

Navy and Marine Corps Medal The Navy and Marine Corps Medal is the highest non-combat decoration awarded for heroism by the United States Department of the Navy to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The medal was established by an act of Congr ...

posthumously for his actions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Forrest Oren Rednour was born in Cutler,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, on 13 May 1923. He enlisted in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, on 19 June 1941. During the predawn darkness of 3 February 1943, Rednour, wearing a

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

suit to ward off

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

, was among the members of the crew of the

United States Coast Guard Cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. Histor ...

USCGC ''Escanaba'' (WPG-77) who voluntarily subjected themselves to pounding seas and bitter cold in the winter

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

darkness for nearly four hours to rescue survivors from the

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

ed troop transport . Realizing the "... danger of being crushed between the

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

s and the ship's side, or of being struck by a

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

blade if the engines backed, he swam in under the counter of the constantly maneuvering ''Escanaba'' and prevented many floating survivors from being caught in the suction of the

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

, in one instance retrieving a loaded raft." Rednour worked the longest of all retrievers and accounted for the greatest number of survivors, but finally had to quit when his rubber suit became torn. Rednour perished early on the morning of 13 June 1943 when ''Escanaba'' disintegrated in a massive explosion of undetermined cause in the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

off Ivituut,

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, with a loss of 101 of the 103 men aboard.

Awards

Rednour was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroic action during the ''Dorchester'' rescue operations of 3 February 1943.

Namesakes

The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

USS ''Rednour'' (DE-592) was named for Forrest Rednour. She was converted into a

high-speed transport High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, the ...

during construction and was in commission as such as USS ''Rednour'' (APD-102) from 1944 to 1946. The United States Coast Guards Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award Program For Excellence in Food Service/Food Service Specialist of the Year also is named for Rednour. In 2015 it was announced that the Sentinel-class fast response cutter USCGC ''Forrest Rednour'' (WPC-1129) would bear his name.

Notes

References

*
United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Tethered Rescue Swimmers

United States Coast Guard Commandant Notice 1650 "Forrest O. Rednour Memorial Award Program For Excellence in Food Service/Food Service Specialist of the Year," dated 14 May 2009

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rednour, Forrest O. 1923 births 1943 deaths Recipients of the Navy and Marine Corps Medal United States Coast Guard non-commissioned officers United States Coast Guard personnel killed in World War II People from Perry County, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois