Hatch on KSL: Gorsuch is “one of the best nominees I’ve seen in my 40 years.”
SALT LAKE CITY—Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the senior member and former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined KSL 5 in Salt Lake last night to discuss the nomination of Judge Neal Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Hatch to Award Purple Heart to Family of WWII POW
Staff Sergeant Royce Fuhriman Survived the Bataan Death March and More Than Three Years as a POW
Salt Lake City, UT -- Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will have the honor of awarding a Purple Heart to the family of Army Staff Sergeant Royce J. Fuhriman, a distinguished World War II veteran who survived the Bataan Death March and endured more than three years as a prisoner of war in the Philippines. SSGT Fuhriman passed away in 2007 without ever receiving this honor.
“As a United States Senator, I consider awarding military medals one of my most sacred duties. Staff Sergeant Royce Fuhriman survived one of the most horrific experiences any soldier should ever have to endure. Not only was he a prisoner of war for more than three years, but he also survived the Bataan Death March—one of the worst atrocities ever committed against American POWs. I honor and respect him deeply for the sacrifices he made in service to our nation. I am pleased that the Purple Heart will find a home with his children.”
Who:
Senator Hatch and family members of Staff Sergeant Royce Fuhriman
What:
Awarding of the Purple Heart for wounds received while a Prisoner of War from May 7, 1942 to August 20, 1945.
When:
Tuesday, February 21 at 10:00 a.m.
Where:
Room 8105 Federal Building, 125 South State Street, Salt Lake City
Media:
The event will be open to media, RSVP to Heather_Barney@Hatch.senate.gov. You will need to check-in and go through security on the first level of the Federal Building.
Background
SSGT Fuhriman’s daughter, Patricia Fuhriman Eckman, brought her father’s military service to Senator Hatch’s attention. She knew of her father’s heroic service during World War II, and in particular, the Bataan Death March and the subsequent years he spent as a POW at Camp O’Donnell on the island of Luzon. Her family was not able to find any record of him receiving military awards other than an Army Ribbon. She then reached out to Senator Hatch, who will present the Purple Heart to the Fuhriman family in recognition of their father’s sacrifice.
Fuhriman joined the Army in 1938 and was assigned to the 31st Infantry based in Manila, Philippines.
Fuhriman recounted that they made the march without food or water. When the march began he weighed 155 pounds; by the time he was liberated, he weighed only 95 pounds. In 1981, Fuhriman returned to the Philippine Island where he had suffered so much physical and mental
abuse. His story is featured in “Courage in a Season of War,” by Paul H. Kelly and Lin Johnson.
Fuhriman has four children: one son and three daughters. He lived for many years in Preston, Idaho, but spent his later years living with his daughter in West Jordan, Utah.
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