Peter Tomich |
USS Utah |
"On the northeast side of Ford Island more ships sat at anchor, among them an aging veteran of many years of Naval service, the USS Utah. The Utah still served with pride, in an inglorious but important role. For nine weeks before that fateful morning, the Utah had been subject to almost daily bombing attacks....by AMERICAN pilots. The USS Utah, in its old age, had been converted to a training vessel or "target ship". American pilots would make their practice runs, dropping "dummy bombs" on the Utah to perfect their combat skills. The crew of Utah were a brave bunch, keeping the ship in operating condition, conducting their drills, and rushing below deck for safety before each practice run. To keep the practice bombs from crashing through, the deck was covered with a layer of 6"x12" timbers. |
Perhaps as inglorious as the role of "target ship" was for the USS Utah, so too was the role of the Watertenders, sailors responsible for the ship's huge boilers. An inglorious task, it none-the-less was one of the most demanding. It required a thorough understanding of the piping in the engine room, the gages that told when too much or too little pressure was present, and the nuances of the machinery that kept the ship in operation. Peter Tomich was the Chief Watertender for the USS Utah. He was one of the most experienced...and best...in the entire Pacific fleet. At the age of 48, he had 22 years of Naval experience. The Navy was his life...his "wife"...his "family". Peter Tomich was born in Prolog, a small village in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Bosnia-Herzegovina) on June 3, 1893. Twenty years later, along with his cousin John Tonic, Peter emigrated to the United States. When World War I broke out, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Though he never saw combat in World War I, he served with pride for 18 months from June 6, 1917 to January 13, 1919. Along the way, he applied for and received United States Citizenship. Ten days after his U.S. Army enlistment expired, Peter Tomich enlisted in the Navy. His "next of kin" information listed his cousin John Tonic in New York. But for Peter Tomich, his "real" next of kin became the sailors with whom he lived and worked for the next 22 years. His only "real" home..... Below deck, in the engineering plant, water rushed towards the huge boilers. Peter Tomich, ever mindful of his crew, ran in to warn them of the impending doom and relay the order to evacuate. "Get out," he yelled above the horrible noise around him. He could feel the ship slowly turning on its side, knew that in moments any hope of escape would vanish. He had to get his men...the only family he knew, out of danger. "Get topside, go....the ship is turning over...you have to escape now." he continued to shout at them. Then, with the knowledge that unless the boilers were secured they would rupture and explode, he ignored the evacuation order himself and set himself to the job that had to be done. As the crewman began up the ladders and headed for daylight above, they turned one last time to watch their Chief. He calmly moved from valve to valve, setting the gauges, releasing steam here and there, stabilizing and securing the huge boilers that otherwise would have turned the entire ship into a massive inferno from which no one would escape. By 8:05 A.M. the Utah was practically on it's side, listing at 40 degrees. Those emerging from below deck were met with gunfire from above as the Japanese continued to strafe the deck with their machine-guns. The huge timbers that had covered the deck began to shift with each explosion, trapping men and crushing bodies. It was hopeless to remain, and rapidly the men on deck moved to the starboard side to leap into the water and swim for safety. Below, Peter Tomich continued to do what he did best, tend to the boilers. He had to be aware, due the incline of the Utah, that his time for escape had run out. But before the ship rolled completely over, he would get the job done to prevent an explosion that would end all hope of survival for hundreds of men now trying to swim to safety. At 8:12 A.M. the mooring lines that held the Utah in place snapped with the sound of whips crackling through the air. With a last gasp, the aging ship rolled completely over, its masts digging into the muddy floor of the bay. The last bubbles of air began to make their way to the surface as time ran out for those still below deck. In all, 58 men would never make it out of the hull of the Utah as it rolled. It became their grave for all time, buried beneath the rusting hull. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The letter to John Tonich informing him of his cousin Peter's death at Pearl Harbor was returned stamped "Address Unknown". Three months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized the award of the Medal of Honor to Peter Tomich. The letter announcing the award was returned the same way. (No one knew that almost twenty years earlier, John Tonich had returned to Croatia.) No other relatives could be found for Peter Tomich. His award is the only Medal of Honor since the Indian Campaigns in the late 1800s that has never been awarded either to a living recipient, or surviving family member. Indeed, the crew of the USS Utah was the only family John Tomich had. For them he had given everything he had that others might return to their own family. When the destroyer named in his honor and memory was commissioned in 1943, it was decided to award his Medal to the ship itself. The award was presented on January 4, 1944 by Rear Admiral Monroe Kelly. In 1946 the USS Tomich was mothballed. Once again Peter Tomich was without a family. Then, in 1947, Governor Herbert B. Maw of the State of Utah proclaimed Peter Tomich an honorary citizen of that State and guardianship of Tomich's Medal was granted to Utah. In 1989 the Navy built the Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, Rhode Island and named the building TOMICH HALL in honor of Chief Tomich. The hall is a combination of academy, dormitory and museum. Chief Tomich's Medal of Honor is now proudly displayed on the Quarterdeck of Tomich Hall where his adopted family, the chief petty officers of the Navy are inspired, even today, by his actions more than half-century ago. Efforts continue, even to this date, to locate any surviving family members to finally present Tomich's award. In the long process, conducted by private citizens and survivors of the Utah, much has been learned. We now know that Peter Tomich was actually Petre Herceg-Tonic...a Croatian immigrant who became an American citizen, adjusted his name for easier pronunciation, and then gave his life for his adopted country. |
Tomich Hall - US Navy Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, RI Article - Navy Faces Lawsuit to Give Medal (Medal of Honor) to Hero's Kin (12/06/01) Article - Medal of Honor Still Not Presented (03/08/03) Additional information regarding Peter Tomich can be found on Doug Sterner's web site. (Click on star to access information) |
Tomich Hall |
