The Nation - News from Aug. 15, 1989
Navy Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Kendall L. Truitt has filed a federal lawsuit seeking payment of a $100,000 life insurance policy held by a shipmate killed April 19 in a gun turret explosion aboard the battleship Iowa. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Miami against Amex Life Assurance Co. of San Rafael, Calif., according to Ellis Rubin, a Miami attorney representing Truitt, now stationed at Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, Fla. Truitt was the sole beneficiary of a $50,000 double-indemnity policy held by Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Clayton M. Hartwig, one of 47 sailors killed in the explosion. Rubin said the life insurance company was refusing to pay the claim until the Navy completes its investigation into the Iowa blast.
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