36 Fitz sailors receive Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2017/10/23/36-fitz-sailors-receive-navy-and-marine-corps-commendation-medal/

36 Fitz sailors receive Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal

By: Geoff Ziezulewicz    1 day ago

Thirty-six sailors who were aboard the destroyer Fitzgerald on June 17 when it collided with a merchant vessel off Japan received Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals in a ceremony Friday. The medals were awarded for the crew’s damage-control efforts after the ship was struck and rapidly flooded, a disaster in which seven sailors drowned.

While the Navy has released a harrowing account of how the Fitz crew saved their ship, just how the collision happened in the first place remains unclear as several investigations continue.

The Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal is awarded to troops who distinguish themselves by heroism, outstanding achievement or meritorious service.

Sailors had less than a minute to escape as seawater blasted through a massive hole in the destroyer Fitzgerald after a container ship struck its starboard side on June 19.
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