Word: hartwigs
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...talked about dying in an explosion. He was the gun captain in Turret 2 of the U.S.S. Iowa on April 19 when a huge explosion in a 16-in. gun killed 47 sailors. On such admittedly circumstantial evidence, the Navy concluded last week that Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, 24, who died in the blast, was "most likely" responsible for the tragedy...
...board of inquiry ruled out accidental causes, called the explosion a "wrongful, intentional act" and said it had found "foreign material" in the key gun barrel. The admirals theorized that a detonator had been placed between powder bags and that someone had rammed the bags more tightly than normal. Hartwig was, the Navy said, in the best position to direct this. The board did not cite a motive, and one of its members said it had "no hard evidence" to confirm reports that Hartwig may have been a homosexual who was distraught over the ending of a friendship with another...
Truitt angrily denied the allegation, suggesting that the fault could lie with an inexperienced crew. Last week a Navy statement seemed to clear Truitt. Investigators are now focusing on the equally bizarre theory that Clayton Hartwig, the insured sailor, committed suicide by causing the explosion with a $15 timing device. The Navy blandly insisted that no apology was due Truitt because it had not "discussed publicly" the murder-suicide theories...
When investigators asked, Truitt denied that he had a homosexual relationship with Hartwig. He said they were best friends, who, as teetotalers, did not mingle with the hard-drinking sailors and as a result got "razzed" a bit. Kubicina similarly denied that her brother was homosexual or had ever shown signs of any suicidal despair. Said she: "My brother died a hero. Now they're making him out to be a homicidal, suicidal maniac. It's incredible, these bizarre tales...
...While Hartwig's letters showed he had been saddened when he lost Truitt as a pal, she said his spirits had soon picked up when he found out his next assignment would be as a driver at the U.S. embassy in London. In a letter written three days before the explosion, she said, he was "totally...