Decorated World War II veteran Cantwell dies

Tuesday, June 19, 2001 | 9:55 a.m.

As a youngster, Bernie Cantwell pedaled his bicycle from his Beach Grove, Ind., home to an old Indianapolis air field where he would spend hours gazing at planes taking off and landing and dreaming that one day he would be a pilot.

About 15 years later, during World War II, Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Bernie Cantwell was piloting his CG-4A military glider under heavy fire over the Netherlands, carefully guiding his bullet-ridden aircraft to a safe landing, where he and 11 crew members were captured.

Thirty-eight years after the war, the government of the Netherlands, upon reviewing the record of that remarkable deed, awarded Cantwell the Orange Lanyard, Holland's highest honor for valor.

Bernard Edward Cantwell, who as a longtime employee for Nevada Beverage sold liquor to businesses ranging from major Las Vegas Strip hotels to small town saloons, died Friday of cancer at Desert Springs Hospital. He was 82.

Services for the Henderson and Las Vegas resident of 49 years will be 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Viator Catholic Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday at Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home, 6200 S. Eastern Ave. Interment will be in Paradise Memorial Gardens.

"Bernie was one of the many quiet heroes of the Greatest Generation," said former two-term Nevada Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, a longtime friend and the Sun's executive editor. "He was always doing good deeds and giving a hand to those needing help. He was a special man who set a good example for all who knew him."

Cantwell, who also was awarded the Purple Heart, POW Medal and the Air Medal, was the uncle of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

"My husband was a jokester and was known for what he called his quick Irish wit," said Cantwell's wife of 55 years, Charlotte Cantwell.

During World War II, Cantwell volunteered for the Army Air Corp's new glider program. He was sent to flight school and was given an officer's commission.

In his 1991 book, "For Us Der Var Ist Over," author James R. Ferrin recalled Cantwell's fateful flight near Holland's southern border:

"All hell broke loose as the Germans opened up with anti-aircraft guns. ... The tow plane was hit and caught on fire, so Bernie cut loose from it and looked for a place to land his shot-up glider without killing everyone in it.

"He was successful ... but they were in the middle of a lot of German soldiers. Bernie said it was a terrible thing to surrender, but the alternative was suicide."

Cantwell spent eight months in Stalag 1 before he was freed by Allied forces.

Born April 6, 1919, in Indianapolis, Cantwell was the eldest of six children of New York Central Railroad signalman Edward Mitchell Cantwell and the former Edythe Brown, an artist.

He graduated from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis and also worked as a signalman for the Central New York Railroad before joining the service.

After returning home from the war, Cantwell spent time in St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was cared for by registered nurse Charlotte Long, whom he married in 1946.

The couple moved to Las Vegas in 1952. Nevada Beverage hired him as a salesman in 1954.

"My father sold alcohol mostly to Strip resorts, but he enjoyed the one day a week he would travel to towns like Tonopah, Pioche, Caliente, Sandy Valley, Goodsprings, Searchlight and Laughlin because bars in those communities reminded him of the Old West he loved," Margaret Cantwell of Las Vegas said.

Cantwell left Nevada Beverage in the early 1970s and started his own nutrition supplement business, from which he retired in 1974, and an engraving business that he operated until his death.

Cantwell was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the National Glider Pilot Association and Holy Family Retreat Association.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Cantwell is survived by four other daughters, Katheleen Cantwell and Mary Cantwell-Doblado, both of Las Vegas, Shelia Cantwell of Lone Pine, Calif., and Monica Moreland of Reno; four sons, Tim Cantwell of Reno, Patrick Cantwell of Las Vegas, Kevin Cantwell of Watsonville, Calif., and Michael Cantwell of Overton; three sisters, Maryanne Dumond of Indianapolis and Katheleen Holmes and Virginia Cantwell, both of Las Vegas; and 20 grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two sons, Christopher Cantwell and Thomas Cantwell, and two brothers, Leo Cantwell and Paul Cantwell.