There were 15 Sailors and one Marine who earned the Medal of Honor for actions during the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor. More information on these Sailors can be found on
the Naval History and Heritage Command’s website.
Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion
Lt. John W. Finn
Ensign Francis C. Flaherty
LCDR Samuel G. Fuqua (Missouri resident) Chief Boatswain Edwin J. Hill Ensign Herbert C. Jones
Rear Adm. Isaac C. Kidd
Lt. Jackson C. Pharris
Radio Electrician Thomas J. Reeves Machinist Donald K. Ross Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Robert R. Scott Chief Watertender Peter Tomich
Capt. Franklin Van Valkenburgh Seaman 1st Class James R. Ward Cdr. Cassin Young
First LT George H Cannon, USMC (Missouri resident)
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Of the 15 Sailors who received the Medal of Honor that day, four of them were Chief Petty Officers. These four Chief Petty Officers showed true heart in what it means to be a Chief. Each one of these men took risks or sacrificed themselves to ensure that their Sailors had a chance to survive or to ensure that they could continue the fight.
LT FINN, JOHN W., (CPO during the attack), NAS Kaneohe Bay, 7 DEC 1941 REEVES, THOMAS, J., Chief Radioman, USS California, Pearl Harbor 1941 TOMICH, PETER, Chief Watertender, USS Utah, 7 DEC 1941
HILL, EDWIN J., Chief Boatswain, USS Nevada, Pearl Harbor, 7 DEC 1941
The Japanese aircraft attacked battleship row with aerial torpedoes, 40 centimeter armor- piercing shells which had been converted to bombs, and 550 pound high explosive bombs. There were five battleships sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack. The USS Nevada (BB-36), USS Oklahoma (BB-37), USS Arizona (BB-39), USS California (BB-44), and the USS West Virginia (BB-48). Most of the ships had been out at sea, performing exercises in the days prior. In fact, our air craft carriers were spared from this surprise attack because they had not yet returned from their exercises. The USS Nevada was is the process of shutting down her boilers when the attack happened and they were able to get underway during the attack. However, she sustained substantial damage as the Japanese targeted her trying to sink her in the channel. As she began to sink, she was ran aground on Hospital Point to keep from blocking the harbor.
The USS Arizona (BB-39) was the first major casualty of the Japanese attack. As the bombing began, She was struck by at least three Japanese bombs. One of which penetrated her decks and ignited her magazines causing a massive explosion which split her hull. From the time of the attack, to the time that she was sinking to the bottom of the harbor was less than nine
minutes. 1,177 Sailors and Marines died on the USS Arizona. One of the survivors of BB-39 was Chief Andrew J. Bowen. He was the grandfather of HMC Richard Bowen of the Greater Ozarks Chief’s Mess. He was on special liberty at the time that the attack began due to it being his daughter’s birthday. Currently, there are only five survivors from the USS Arizona that are still alive today, Lauren Bruner, 97, Donald Stratton, 95, Ken Potts, 96, Lou Conter, 96, and Lonnie Cook, 97.
Upon taking command of the Pacific Fleet, December 25, 1943, Admiral Nimitz said, "The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America.
1. The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.
2. When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be
raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.
3. Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America.”
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Even with all of the devastation, Admiral Nimitz could see the silver lining. There were 2,335 military personnel killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. 2,008 of these were Navy personnel. There were 109 Marines, and 218 Army and 68 civilians, making the total death toll of 2,403 people. There were also 1,143 people wounded, 710 Navy, 69 Marines, 364 Army, and 103 civilians. As this attack took place over 75 years ago, the number of WWII veterans is dwindling at a very rapid pace. In our opinion, this generation was the strongest that America has ever seen. Having survived through the Great Depression and WWII, this generation endured what many today could not. The quote “Hard times make hard men” was definitely true for them.
The attack on Pearl Harbor forever changed the United States. On 8 December, 1941, President Roosevelt signed the Declaration of War on the Empire of Japan. We feel that our nation had little idea of how much this would change America. The demand for men and equipment on the front lines was so great, that many women began working in the factories in order to keep up with the demand of the war. Steal production sky-rocketed, defense contractors grew exponentially, and Naval ships were built in as little as 46 days. Over 8 million women joined the workforce. We believe that this is a defining point where women began in the workforce and the spark that lit the fire which has led to the equal opportunity rights that we enjoy today. It changed our foreign policies drastically. We do not wait for tyrants to gain power and threaten our borders. Since WWII, the United States has been the first country to act any time that human rights are being violated across the globe.