Editor’s note: This tribute is one in a series of reader-submitted tributes to World War II-era veterans that will be posted during September.

LT. WILLIAM M. CRUTCHER, USN

Hometown: Bellingham.

Branch: U.S. Navy.

Years of service: Aug. 6, 1919-Dec. 17, 1945.

Highest rank attained: Enlisted as a machinist’s mate; retired as a lieutenant.

Significant duty stations or deployments during the War: Served on the USS California. Wounded by bomb fragments in the bombing of Liverpool, England on Sept. 10, 1940, and while bringing down a German Luftwaffe JU-88 in April 1942.

Other: After joining the Navy in 1919, he served on the USS Tennessee (BB-43) and the USS Philip (DD-76). Lent to British Forces; was captured and spent two years in a German prison camp. Received the Silver Lifesaving Medal for saving three-year-old Stella Kapinska from the waters of the Hudson River on May 23, 1927.

awards: Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Purple Heart, Silver Lifesaving Medal, WWI Victory Medal, Haitian Campaign Medal, Expeditionary Medal, Nicaraguan Campaign, Yangtze Service, WWII Victory Medal, American Defense Medal, African Campaign Medal, Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Expert Rifle, Expert Pistol.

POST-WAR CAREER: Skippered a fishing boat in Alaska.