A Fitting Tribute For A Fallen Hingham WWII Hero [PHOTOS]

Hingham Veterans held  a memorial service for seaman Linzee Sewell Hooper Thursday morning, something he had not properly received when he was killed over 65 years ago during WWII.

Keith Jermyn, Director of Hingham Veterans’ Services presented the fallen hero’s burial spot with a  white marble veteran gravestone.

In December of 1944, Hooper, a Seaman First Class of the United States Coast Guard drowned after he was crushed between his ship and a barge while working aboard the USS Cepheus in Norfolk, VA during WWII. The Hooper family, who lived on Leavitt Street in Hingham, was immediately notified of the accident, but the body was not recovered and they placed a cross at the family’s burial plot at the Hingham Cemetery.

Several months later in June of 1965, the 19-year-old seaman’s remains were found and transported back to Hingham.  The remains were buried at the family plot and his tomb never received a veteran’s recognition.  But on Thursday, that all changed.

Jermyn presented the fallen hero with the white marble stone which recognizes him as a WWII veteran.  Hooper also received a rifle salute, taps, a flag folding ceremony, and Hooper's grand-nephew Jack Hooper Dean was present to witness it all.   Jermyn presented Dean, who is a Hingham resident,  with the flag in honor of his great uncle’s service.

“We’re very keen on this, [our family] is very pleased by this,” Dean said.

New Jersey resident Brenda Kosza was also present at the ceremony. Seaman Hooper’s gravesite would have never been properly marked if it weren’t for her.

Kosza’s father,  Joesph Wright was a shipmate of Hooper  and was with him when he was killed in 1944.  Kosza said Wright had been depressed for many years after witnessing Hopper’s death but it was not until the 1980’s when he first told his own family the story of his death.

This past year, Kosza wanted to take photos of Hooper’s gravesite for her  father when she visited the Boston area. When she emailed Hingham Library Director to see if he could identify where Hooper’s gravestone and plaque was located in town, Corcoran reached out to Jermyn, who discovered that Hooper never received a proper grave plot.   After months of research, Jermyn then petitioned the United States Veterans Administration for a stone and succeeded. 

“We thought this was the right thing to do,” Jermyn said. “So many people- many moving parts made this happen… This is a fitting tribute for this fallen hero.”

Earlier this year,  Hingham received the marble footstone to properly identify veteran Hooper’s resting place and decided to hold the ceremony on Thursday, June 14, which is also flag day and exactly 67 years after Hooper’s remains were first buried.

“My father would be very honored,” Kosza said. “I think he’d be very emotional.”

Corcoran and Jermyn were finally able to meet Kosza and they all agreed that it was worth the efforts and felt that the ceremony was very special.