J. Richard Ward |
USS Oklahoma |
USS J. Richard Ward (DE-243) Naval Historical Center Library Information (Click on star to access information) |
James Richard Ward was born in Springfield, Ohio, on 10 September 1921. He enlisted in the Navy at Cincinnati, Ohio, in November 1940. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Ward was serving in the battleship Oklahoma. As that ship was capsizing, and had been ordered abandoned, he remained in a turret holding a flashlight, thus sacrificing his own life to permit other members of the crew to escape. For his heroism at that time, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. |
Ferncliff Cemetery Springfield, Ohio |
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Wall of the Missing Honolulu, Hawaii |
