We are so grateful for heroes like Capt. Mervyn Sharp Bennion who have served our country selflessly.
One Pearl Harbor hero's legacy of courage, service, and sacrifice continues to inspire his family and his home state of Utah.
Capt. Mervyn Sharp Bennion, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate from Vernon, Tooele County, was in command of the battleship USS West Virginia on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, as Japanese airplanes attacked the U.S. fleet in Hawaii.
The Utah native and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was hit by shrapnel from a bomb that destroyed part of his command deck. Although mortally wounded with severe injuries to his abdomen, spine and legs, Bennion refused to leave the bridge, even for more than basic medical treatment, according to usswestvirginia.org.