Berrie H. Jarrett

### Under fire above the Veracruz landing

During the U.S. landing at Veracruz on 21 April 1914, Seaman Berrie Henry Jarrett of USS Florida was sent to the roof of the Terminal Hotel to serve with the signal officer. From that exposed post he remained beside the officer through continuous, heavy fire. When Marine Private Daniel Haggerty was shot, Jarrett helped carry him to safety. He also picked up badly wounded Navy electrician E. A. Gisburne and moved him out of danger. A later Navy report praised Jarrett’s courage and composure during the fighting; his Medal of Honor citation summarized the action as extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession.

Jarrett was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 10 June 1894. He was still a young sailor when the Navy landed at Veracruz, a port seized during the Mexican Revolution after President Woodrow Wilson ordered U.S. forces to prevent a shipment of arms reaching the government of Victoriano Huerta. Jarrett received the Medal of Honor from Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels aboard Florida at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 6 January 1915. He later advanced to the warrant rank of gunner. Jarrett died in Norfolk, Virginia, on 14 August 1927, aged 33, and was buried in Maryland.

### Medal of Honor citation

“On board the U.S.S. Florida Jarrett displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the seizure of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 21 April 1914.”

The fuller account appears in the after-action report by Rear Admiral F. F. Fletcher, recorded with Navy General Order No. 116, 19 August 1914. Jarrett, then assigned as orderly to the brigade commander, was sent to the Terminal Hotel roof with the signal officer. Under continuous fire, he helped carry wounded Marine Private Daniel Haggerty to safety and carried wounded Navy electrician E. A. Gisburne to safety as well.

### Sources

- Congressional Medal of Honor Society. “Berrie Henry Jarrett.” Recipient profile and archival extract from General Order No. 116. - Naval History and Heritage Command. “Mexican Campaign (Vera Cruz) 1914 Medal of Honor Recipients.” - National Medal of Honor Museum. “Jarrett, Berrie Henry.” Recipient record.