Marvin Cromwell

Marvin Larcey Cromwell (1925 – Feb. 6, 1945) is a Sunbright man who was killed in World War II and is listed on the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Marvin Cromwell was born 1925 in Sunbright, the son of Samuel Wright Cromwell (1872-1957) and Sadie Lauren Garrett (1888-1960). His siblings included Jasper Cromwell (1897-1994), Clarence Gordon Cromwell (1910-1989), Clyde Cromwell (1914-1959), Cassie G. Priest (1918-2007), Macel Dorothy Chaney (1920-2015) and Melvin C. Cromwell (1935-2014).

Although he is listed on the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville, he was not from Scott County. His family never lived in Scott County.

World War II

Seaman Cromwell enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserves and fought in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was assigned to the Peter Silvester, a steam merchant ship. The Peter Silvester sank at 4:40 p.m. on Feb. 6, 1945 after being hit by torpedoes southwest of Australia. It was bound for Melbourne, Australia with 2,700 tons of U.S. Army supplies and 317 mules. Of the 175 men on board, 33 were lost, including one crewman, seven armed guards, and 25 troops. S1 Cromwell was among the dead. The Peter Silvester was the last victim of German U-boats in the Indian Ocean during the war.

Aftermath

S1 Cromwell’s remains were classified as unrecoverable. He is memorialized on the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. He is listed on the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville, and the Morgan County World War II Memorial in Wartburg.