Sept. 2025 Lights of Peace Flag to Honor The Memory of Thomas E. Tuttle, KIA during WWII and Acushnet VFW Namesake

During the month of September, the 72nd Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of Thomas E. Tuttle, who was killed in action while serving in the United States Navy during WWII and is the namesake for the VFW Tuttle Post 7239 in Acushnet, MA.

Thomas, a resident of Acushnet, MA, was born on July 29, 1923, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Tuttle of 300 Main St., Acushnet. He enlisted in the United States Navy on March 3, 1941, at the age of seventeen. As a young man, Thomas taught himself Morse code and would communicate with friends in the neighborhood, using crystal radios, honing his skill. He chose to join the United States Navy, right out of high school, so he could learn as much as he could about Morse Code and communications.

Bill Comeau, a published historian and the Jr. Vice Commander of the Tuttle VFW Post in Acushnet, researched the life history of Thomas Tuttle and produced a video highlighting his military life, which can be viewed on YouTube. Much of the content of this story is referenced from Mr. Comeau’s research.

After WWII started, Tuttle was sent to Radio School, located in Noroton Heights (a village in the town of Darien, Connecticut), due to his skill in Morse code. He graduated as a Radioman 3rd Class and was sent on assignment to San Diego, CA.

He was later deployed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as part of the Navy Signal Corps, assigned to the Catalina Amphibious bomber plane crew and placed in charge of radio communications. The Catalina aircraft was a sea and land-based bomber, also used to monitor the ocean for enemy activity.

According to worldwarwings.com, “The Catalina may not be as well-known as other aircraft from World War II, but its contributions were invaluable across multiple theaters of war. Known for its long-range capabilities and versatility, Catalina played a vital role in reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, and air-sea rescue missions. Despite being slower and less well-armed than some of its counterparts, its achievements during the war earned it a reputation as an unsung hero of the Allied Forces.”

“Whether it played the role of the “Black Cat,” “Mad Cat,” or “Dumbo,” the PBY Catalina proved itself as one of the most instrumental amphibious planes as it struck fear in the Axis and provided hope for the Allies,” as stated by nationalww2museum.org,

On Dec. 7, 1941, the fateful day when Pearl Harbor was hit, Tuttle’s family was concerned about their son, wondering if he had been a casualty of the strike. In a Standard-Times newspaper clipping dated, Dec. 9, 1941, a story was published, “Son in HAWAII, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Tuttle of Main St., Acushnet, are concerned about their son, Thomas Ernest Tuttle, 18, in (Naval) Air Corps, serving as second class radio operator with a Bomber Squadron in Hawaii. Until recently the son has been working at Pearl Harbor. The father is chief Engineer at the Sole-e-Mar Children’s Hospital in S. Dartmouth.”

Unbeknownst to his family, was that Thomas and his crew had been sent to Midway Island, 1000 miles Northwest of Pearl Harbor before the attack. The Midway Islands had also been attacked on Dec. 7th, 1941. They were attacked by two destroyers; The Sazanami and Ushio, which damaged the United States Marine base. Some Catalina aircraft were damaged during the bombing at Midway, but Thomas and his crew were not on base at the time.

By June 1942, the U.S. Naval Task Force had defeated the Japanese at Midway Atoll and that victory along with the Guadal Canal victory was a turning point in the Pacific war.

According to Mr. Comeau’s research, Thomas and his crew were then sent to Perth, Australia where they performed reconnaissance missions to the north. On March 28, 1943, the VP 101 was conducting a recon missing near the Philippines with two other planes. The three planes traveled to Darwin to refuel, then they flew to the Celebes Sea, just south of the Philippines. Two of the planes returned but Thomas’ plane never returned. Over the next 4 days, the squadron sent out multiple flights to search for the missing plane, but it was never located. Thomas was presumed dead. His body and the rest of the crew were never recovered.

On May 4, 1946, the VFW Post was established in his hometown of Acushnet, MA. It was located exactly one mile from his childhood home and was named The Thomas E. Tuttle Post 7239 in his honor.

Tuttle’s brother, Edmond, who flew 50 bombing missions over Europe on a B-24 as a top turret gunner during WWII, was named the 3rd Post Commander in 1948. Their mother, Alice Tuttle, was named the First Auxiliary Commander of the post in 1947.

In March 2023, Comeau received a message from Thomas Tuttle’s nephew, Edmond’s son, who was also named Thomas Tuttle, explaining that March 28, 2023, would mark the 80th anniversary of his uncle going missing during WWII. Comeau organized a tribute to Thomas Tuttle at the VFW in his honor.

Thomas Tuttle, the nephew, gave a speech where he showed the military photos of both his dad and his uncle. He explained that his dad, “Edmond, was almost shot down, but never was.” His dad used to say that, “if they say they’re not afraid, then they were lying.”

Thomas shared some stories that his dad, Edmond, had told him. “Tommy loved to play with Morse code. They would listen around the world and he got really good at code but wanted more practice. Back in the 40’s there was a naval reserve in Fairhaven and he got a chance to have them play around with their equipment, but he would need to sign up for the Naval Reserves to serve and if he was called up, he would have to go. He was first stationed in Pearl Harbor in early 1941 and spent most of the time flying in a Catalina reconnaissance plane. Just before Pearl Harbor was attacked, his squadron was sent to Midway Island. While he was there, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Then they were sent back to Pearl Harbor and Midway was attacked.

V-mail is a way they communicated. It was a small message and had to be really careful what they said. One message read, ‘We are traveling with Mark to the Philippines.’ In this message, Mark was General Douglas McArthur. His Squadron was then sent to Perth, Australia. Four planes went out but seven other crew members didn’t come back. His mother always thought he would come back. She became a gold star mother. It’s amazing how life works. Missing the two battles and we never knew what happened to that aircraft. Thank you to Bill (Comeau) for doing all of the chronicling.”

Thomas’ youngest sister, Teresa’s son, Bobby then spoke. His grandmother, “Memere,” never gave up hope. My grandfather was in WWI. He explained that his family comes from a long line of patriotism.

Bill Comeau spoke last, explaining that Tommy and his friends used to communicate with each other through crystal radios during his childhood. He went on to explain that the Catalina was a sea plane used as an escort, transport and reconnaissance plane, with a range of 2500 miles. Comeau explained that during Tuttle’s journey to Perth, Australia, he and his crew had a go through Indonesia, which was held by the Japanese. His last mission was a routine flight. The other three planes did not see any enemy planes during this same flight but a message was never sent back to the base from Tuttle’s plane. After several days of searching for his plane, Tuttle and his crew were presumed dead.

Thomas E. Tuttle was posthumously awarded the World War II Victory Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, the American Campaign Medal, the Navy Presidential Unit Citation, the Navy Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the Navy Expeditionary Medal.