The Nation - News from July 9, 1989

Concluding an inquiry that began May 31, Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-Ill.) said his office found no evidence that the Navy tried to make Gunner’s Mate Kendall L. Truitt a scapegoat in a deadly explosion aboard the battleship Iowa. The 21-year-old sailor from Marion, Ill., emerged as a focus of investigation after reports quoting unidentified Navy sources linked him to the April 19 blast that killed 47 sailors. The sources told reporters that another sailor, Clayton M. Hartwig, made Truitt the beneficiary of a $100,000 life insurance policy. Hartwig was killed in the blast. “We felt the Navy had acted responsibly in trying to control any undue speculation,” Poshard said in noting that his probe found no fault with the Navy’s overall handling of the matter.