BM1 Clarence Sutphin Jr.

get to know this enlisted hero

Petty Officer First Class Clarence Sutphin Jr. enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in November 1941, weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. In May 1942, Sutphin was assigned to the USS Leonard Wood, a landing craft supporting our troops in North Africa and Sicily. When that operation was complete, the Leonard Wood transited to the Pacific theater.

During the Battle of Saipan in 1944, Sutphin helped oversee boat operations including landing, loading and salvaging other landing craft as they endured heavy fire. During the conflict, he repeatedly risked his life to save others. He swam a towline to a landing craft that was stranded on a reef, saved another boat stuck on the beach under enemy fire and came to the aid of eight Marines who had been struck by a mortar round. Sutphin stayed aboard the Leonard Wood through May 1945 and participated in its eight major amphibious operations. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his “exceptional bravery under fire” during the Battle of Saipan.

To learn more about Clarence Sutphin Jr.’s heroism, click here to read a June 2020 article from Coast Guard Atlantic Area historian William H. Theissen. The article first appeared in The Long Blue Line, the USCG retiree newsletter magazine published by our friends at the National Coast Guard Museum Foundation.