NAVY WWII MOH ENGRAVING

[FFZFlyer]

The biggest deterrent to cataloging example of the engraving formats used on the reverses of MoH's awarded to members of the U.S. Navy for their gallantry in WWII is the lack of photographs of examples. Fifty-seven sailors were so honored during the Second World War. I have photos of ten of those medals.

 

While these is a small sample, less than 20 percent, it is still possible to ascertain some consistency in the different engraving formats used for Navy WWII awards. I am not saying these format definitions are definitive, only that patterns are detectable.

 

I have photos of three Pearl Harbor MoHs: Ross, Flaherty, and Tomich. I'll refer to this as Format #1. These pieces have either 10 or 11 lines of engraving, depending on where the word "DECEASED" was placed:

 

RATE OR RANK

FULL NAME

U.S. NAVY

DECEASED (if appropriate)

FOR DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT

IN THE LINE OF HIS

PROFESSION ON OCCASION

JAPANESE ATTACK ON

PEARL HARBOR,

TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

DECEMBER 7, 1941

 

This exact verbiage was used on all three of the PH medals I have photographs of. The only difference is the inclusion of the fourth line DECEASED, as warranted. Otherwise, the words on each line and the margin spacing is identical.

 

Here is Don Ross's MoH, presented on April 18, 1942, one of the very first presentations of WWII:

 

 

For some reason, the Navy Department opted to consider these actions "line of profession" awards as opposed to "distinguished conduct in battle" awards. The LOP verbiage had almost exclusively been used in non-combat awards prior to Pearl Harbor. Clearly, the attack at Pearl Harbor was combat and these men all distinguished themselves in actual combat with an armed enemy. I do not know the wording on the other early WWII Pearl Harbor MoHs, but I think one could safely assume that they were also LOP awards and the formatting was similar, if not identical.

[FFZFlyer]

Here's a photo of Flaherty's engraving:

 

 

Some confusion exists as to exactly when Flaherty's medal was presented to his family. Lang, Collins, and White's book notes that the presentation was made to Flaherty's brother on March 6, 1946. If this is true, I do not know why there would have been such a lengthy delay. Obviously, though, the medal was prepared with the other early Pearl Harbor awards.

 

The most obvious difference between this and Ross's piece is the inclusion of DECEASED on the fourth line.

 

 

[FFZFlyer]

This is Tomich's piece:

 

 

Few MoH enthusiasts are unfamiliar with the various journeys of this piece, so I will not repeat them here.

 

Suffice it to say, that the obvious difference in the Format #1 engraving here is the inclusion of the word DECEASED on the third line, right after U.S. NAVY. Whether this indicates a different "hand" did this engraving or is simply a variance by a the same engraver as the other pieces, we will probably never know.

 

If anyone has photos of other Pearl Harbor or early WWII Navy MoH engravings, it would be great if you would share them and shed some light on verbiage and other format variations. I know a lot of people had visited with John Finn over the years, for example, and he was such a great guy he probably let any number of them photograph the engraving on his piece, assuming it was still the original.

 

 

 

 

[FFZFlyer]

The only other early Navy WWII MoH engraving I have is the much photographed Norman Scott piece that has 13 lines of engraving:

 

 

 

 

This medal was presented to Scott's son, who I believe was an Annapolis student at the time, on December 9, 1942, less one month after Scott was KIA (Adm. Daniel Callaghan's son, who I think was also attending Annapolis, received his father's MoH at the same ceremony. Callaghan had been FDR's naval aide for 3 years just prior to WWII and his award, along with Scott's, were made at FDR's specific direction, which explains the rapid presentation).

 

I am still cataloging this as a Format #1 even though there are some variations. The two notable ones are the enclosing DECEASED in parenthesis and the inclusion of several engraving flourishes.

 

Scott's engraving also notes his "extraordinary heroism in combat." The date is provided much earlier in the engraving and a synopsis of the citation is also included.

 

BM 1/c Reinhardt Keppler earned a posthumous MoH aboard the USS San Francisco during the same action that killed Callaghan and Scott. His MoH was not presented until nearly a year later, on September 17, 1943. Its present location is unknown as is Callaghan's.

 

There were several other 1942 and 1943 MoHs presented prior to 1945. If anyone has photos of any of these engravings it would be great if you would post them.

[FFZFlyer]

The only photograph I have of a mid-WWII-presented Navy MoH is Douglas Munro's and he was in the Coast Guard! Technically, his award would have be been processed through the Navy Department because the USCG became part of the USN during wartime and is thus included in the Navy WWII awards.

 

 

 

 

I designated this as Format #2. Note that the recipient's name is engraved on one line but is slanted and curved with engraving flourishes added. The word DECEASED is no longer used.

 

The term "for conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty" is used. "He gallanty gave up his life in defense of his country" is added at the end of the citation synopsis. A similar phrase was used on Scott's piece, but along with the word DECEASED. When these phrases first were used is unknown. Additional engraving flourishes are used alongside USCG and at the bottom of the engraving.

 

It is also notable that precise margins are used with no indented lines. How much planning that had to take is amazing.

 

Again, if anyone has photos of any of the pre-1945 Navy WWII MoH engraving formats posting them here would be a major addition to this body of work.

[FFZFlyer]

The last format, Format #3, is seen on Navy MoHs presented sometime after late 1944 or early 1945. The exact date for the change is not known nor is the authority for the change. The major difference is that the entire reverse of the medal is covered with engraving. Engraved lines total 18 or more, depending on the citation. This represented a major effort on the part of the engraver and results in some of the most impressive engraving seeing on modern medals. Essentially, the format is:

 

FULL NAME

RATE (if an officer, the order was reversed and the rank was used on the first line)

U. S. NAVY

(An amazing precise of the

citation follows on 14 or more

lines with zero margins.)

 

Lawson Ramage's piece is the earliest one I have. It was presented to him at the White House by FDR on January 10, 1945:

 

 

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty..." is used. Engraving flourishes are used on the first and third lines and at the bottom of the star at the end of the engraving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FFZFlyer]

At the risk of being redundant, I have four more late WWII Navy MoH Format #3 engravings to post. Some of been posted previously:

 

 

This is another WWII submariner award. O'Kane received his medal on March 21, 1946 after recuperating from his stint as a POW of the Japanese.

 

This is not the best photo but with a little squinting and a magnifying glass you can make it out. The major difference is RICHARD H./

O'KANE engraved on two lines. "For conspicuous gallantry, etc." is also used.

 

 

Bigelow's medal was presented to his family sometime in 1946. I'm going to guess it was Memorial Day that year, but that's only a guess.

 

Note that his name is on the top line and his rate on the second, reverse of the two officer pieces. Engraving flourishes are used adjacent to his rate and at the bottom of the star.

 

 

 

 

[FFZFlyer]

I've posted the engraving of corpsman Fred Lester's MoH previously:

 

 

The medal was presented to Lester's parent's in their hometown of Downer's Grove, IL on May 30, 1946. A school in Downers Grove was later named in his honor.

 

Note the engraving flourishes used at the ends of the second and third lines, as well as at the bottom of the star.

 

This was the very first "authentic, awarded" MoH I ever saw. The family had it hanging inside their dining room hutch. They had no other medals earned by their son. At the time I was too naïve to know how to acquire them, but I believe the nephew later did obtain them.

 

The photo is more than 50 years old. Not bad for an old Kodak box camera!!

 

For several years the parents, and later Lester's nephew, allowed me to use this medal in the display that accompanied my lectures on the MoH. I assume it is still with the family.

 

 

[FFZFlyer]

Owen Hammerberg earned his posthumous MoH in Pearl Harbor on February 17, 1945, trying to raise several LSTs that had sunk during a disastrous ammunition ship explosion a few months earlier. His is the second to last Navy non-combat award of the MoH:

 

 

 

 

Once again you can see that his name is on the first line followed on the second line by an abbreviation of his rate. This is the only line that has engraving flourishes at either end. Another flourish is at the bottom of the star. Use and placement of these flourishes were apparently at the discretion of the individual engraver.

 

The phrase "For conspicuous gallantry..." is used but no mention of actual combat is made.

 

I understand that due to his parent's divorce, two MoHs were given. One is in the Michigan's Own Museum in Frankenmuth, MI, and the other was donated to the CMHS museum when it was aboard the USS Intrepid on the Hudson River, an occasion that provoked the ire of Hammerberg's brother because the museum curator was so callous in his acceptance of the piece. I am assuming that medal is now at the CMHS museum in Charleston, SC. The exact presentation date is unknown, although I would assume it was sometime in 1946, maybe again around the Memorial Day time period, as the Navy and Marine Corps seemed to try and get a lot of medals presented at that time. Pure speculation on my part. I do not know if two presentation ceremonies were held, or if one parent received their duplicate medal in the mail.

 

Again, if anyone has other WWII Navy MoH engravings to add to this study their contribution would be most appreciated. This is the only way we can add to this body of work.

 

I hope you found these posts interesting and informative

[KASTAUFFER]

Thank you for posting these! I met Don Ross here in Seattle years ago and for a period of time his MOH was buried in his garden on his farm. My wife use to play on his farm when she was a kid. My Father in Law is a Pearl Harbor survivor and he and Don knew each other because they both lived here in the Seattle area.

 

He lost it, and found it again. He had it gold plated after he found it. The dirt had discolored the finish.

 

Do you have any idea where Capt. Bennion's MOH is located? I have seen pics of Adm. Kidd's but not Bennions.

 

Kurt

[Pete-o MSU]

Hammerberg's brother had good intuition. The medal given to the CMHS was stolen due to the fact that the museum did not lock their display cases. I believe 5 MOH's were stolen. The museum in MI thankfully had the majority of his items and they are still on display there.

 

The CMHS museum on the Yorktown did not have any MOHs on display when I was there a year ago.

 

Pete

[Dave]

BM 1/c Reinhardt Keppler earned a posthumous MoH aboard the USS San Francisco during the same action that killed Callaghan and Scott. His MoH was not presented until nearly a year later, on September 17, 1943. Its present location is unknown as is Callaghan's.

 

 

 

This is a great thread!!!

 

I believe Keppler's MOH is the one in the possession of the Vallejo Naval Museum. I've been meaning to get up there and photograph it for my book, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I photographed Flaherty's, Hammerberg's, Kidd's, and Munro's for my book. Unfortunately, my publisher might have heartburn if I posted the pics here before the book comes out, sadly.

 

Thanks for posting these - hopefully there are more pictures out there!

 

Dave

[Dave]

Here's the backside of Gary's MOH. Unfortunately, I did this on a scanner back in 1999 so the image quality wasn't all too great. I tried to get onboard to photograph it before the ship was decommissioned last August, but I got stood up (even got a pistol drawn on me at the San Diego Naval Station gate, no less!) and didn't attempt again after that debacle...

[KASTAUFFER]

I believe Red Ramage's MOH was also stolen from the USS Bowfin Museum at Pearl Harbor as well. It was taken in 1994. I do not know if it has been recovered.

 

Kurt

[Pete-o MSU]

Sorry there were 7 stolen not 5. I guess the police think someone pried open the top of the display case after museum hours. (The museum did have them locked up) The other six that were stolen from the CMHS are:

 

John Wilson, Civil War

Brent Woods, Indian Wars

Hans Hansen, Boxer Rebellion

Donald Truesdell, 2nd Nic

John Mihalowski, USS Squalus Rescue

Leslie Bellrichard, Vietnam

 

Pete

[FFZFlyer]

Thank you for posting these! I met Don Ross here in Seattle years ago and for a period of time his MOH was buried in his garden on his farm. My wife use to play on his farm when she was a kid. My Father in Law is a Pearl Harbor survivor and he and Don knew each other because they both lived here in the Seattle area.

 

He lost it, and found it again. He had it gold plated after he found it. The dirt had discolored the finish.

 

Do you have any idea where Capt. Bennion's MOH is located? I have seen pics of Adm. Kidd's but not Bennions.

 

Kurt

 

I knew Don and Helen quite well years ago. They were both class acts and he was among the few MoH recipients who actually cared about the history of the award. I had all of her books.

 

I cannot imagine how Ross's medal ended up in his garden. I wouldn't think that he wore it while he was picking radishes!

 

No clue on Bennion. Although, since he was LDS and from Salt Lake City, I would imagine it would be fairly easy to track down descendants, if one were so inclined.

 

I had not seen pix of Kidd's medal and do not know where it is. I suspect it might be in the facility named for him in San Diego but have not been able to confirm that.

[FFZFlyer]

 

 

This is a great thread!!!

 

I believe Keppler's MOH is the one in the possession of the Vallejo Naval Museum. I've been meaning to get up there and photograph it for my book, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I photographed Flaherty's, Hammerberg's, Kidd's, and Munro's for my book. Unfortunately, my publisher might have heartburn if I posted the pics here before the book comes out, sadly.

 

Thanks for posting these - hopefully there are more pictures out there!

 

Dave

I contacted the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum today, thanks to your tip, and they confirmed they have Keppler's medal. They agreed to photograph the engraving but it may be a few weeks before they can do that. When I receive it I'll post it here.

 

Certainly understand about Kidd's medal. However, are you able to tell us where it is located and if the format is consistent with other PH MoHs?

[FFZFlyer]

Here's the backside of Gary's MOH. Unfortunately, I did this on a scanner back in 1999 so the image quality wasn't all too great. I tried to get onboard to photograph it before the ship was decommissioned last August, but I got stood up (even got a pistol drawn on me at the San Diego Naval Station gate, no less!) and didn't attempt again after that debacle...

 

Thanks so much for posting this. I knew someone had to have a photo of his engraving because I recollect seeing it years ago.

 

What is amazing is that his engraving is a Format #2 even though the medal was presented to him on January 23, 1946. I had thought that the Format #3 engraving was used exclusively sometime after 1944. That's what's great about this forum, you keep learning new things and expanding the knowledge base.

 

I may contact Holy Cross and see if they have a photo of O'Callahan's MoH or would be willing to take one and let me use it. Since the two medals were presented on the same day for the same action one would think that the formats would be identical. But I've been wrong before.

[FFZFlyer]

Hammerberg's brother had good intuition. The medal given to the CMHS was stolen due to the fact that the museum did not lock their display cases. I believe 5 MOH's were stolen. The museum in MI thankfully had the majority of his items and they are still on display there.

 

The CMHS museum on the Yorktown did not have any MOHs on display when I was there a year ago.

 

Pete

I was at the museum in Charleston a number of years ago and was appalled at how their MoHs were displayed. They were all just laying on varnished plywood in a glass display case with just the recipient's name on a card next to the medal. No engravings were shown. At that time there was no chronological, or any other, order to the displays. They were just laying there.

 

One can only hope that the thief is giving the pieces more respect than the museum did.

[Dave]

I contacted the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum today, thanks to your tip, and they confirmed they have Keppler's medal. They agreed to photograph the engraving but it may be a few weeks before they can do that. When I receive it I'll post it here.

 

Certainly understand about Kidd's medal. However, are you able to tell us where it is located and if the format is consistent with other PH MoHs?

 

 

Kidd's MOH and PH are at the Navy History and Heritage Command, in storage. The MOH is supposed to be restored at some point (it's a bit rough) and the PH needs to be re-ribboned (the original brooch and ribbon were replaced at some point in its life). I believe they were on display in the ship named for him and then on display somewhere else...thus the damage to them. I should have asked to photograph Tomich's MOH and PH, but I didn't think to do so, unfortunately! (They weren't quite as nice as the Marine Corps museum folks who were more than happy to let me photograph anything I wanted!)

 

In all my searching, I would have loved to have photograph Daniel Callaghan's MOH, but I never found it (it has a very personal meaning for me). I did find Ernest Evan's son, and asked to photograph his MOH and PH, but never got a response. For as many times as I held John Finn's MOH, I was unfortunately stupid and never thought to photograph it (I was a teenager back when we'd go shooting at his house...) Same goes for Admiral Fluckey - I saw him so many times, visited him at his house, held all of his medals...and never thought to photograph them. Darn!

[FFZFlyer]

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of Mark Savolis, the archivist at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA, here's a photo of Fr. O'Callahan's MoH engraving:

 

 

As noted in Post #13 in this thread from Dave, regarding Don Gary's MoH, the two pieces display nearly identical engraving formats. The only difference appears to be the absence of the flourishes around the recipient's first name, probably because the phrase (CHC) was included on O'Callahan's. This inclusion of the abbreviation for the Chaplains Corps probably meant that the "balance" of that line would be offset by using the flourishes around O'Callahan's first name.

 

Both medals were presented by President Truman at the White House on January 23, 1946, for heroism during the same action ten months earlier.

 

The actual "citation" language, too, is identical, indicating that it was more than likely the same "hand" that produced the engraving.

 

I can't thank Mark enough for his help. Based on O'Callahan's wishes, his medal is rarely seen and has never been permanently displayed, nor will it. It is believed that this is the first time the engraving has been published.

 

Upon researching Fr. O'Callahan's story I learned two very interesting facts: His only sister was a prisoner of the Japanese in the Philippines and O'Callahan had joined the crew of the Franklin just about two weeks before the action off Japan. His previous service had been in the Atlantic Theater.

 

 

[FFZFlyer]

I wanted to include a photo of the obverse of O'Callahan's medal because it shows the original "square" pad on the neck ribbon:

 

 

It is believed that after the WH ceremony O'Callahan never again wore his medal.

[katieony]

A great addition to this thread...thank you!

Mike

[Hermanus]

Here is another one. This one is of Robert R. Scott.

 

Regards 

Herman 

[patrick_usmc]

I posted this elsewhere on the forum a few years ago, but want to add it to this thread as well.
 

Here is a photo of Cassin Young’s Medal of Honor, on display at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.