Donald Kirby Ross

Twice rendered unconscious in the smoke and heat below decks at Pearl Harbor, Donald Kirby Ross twice returned to his station. His refusal to abandon his duty aboard USS Nevada on December 7, 1941, made him one of the defining naval heroes of the attack and earned him the Medal of Honor. The U.S. Navy later recognized Ross as the first World War II recipient of the Medal of Honor, and his name continues at sea aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71).

Donald Kirby Ross was born on December 8, 1910, in Beverly, Kansas. He enlisted in the United States Navy at Denver, Colorado, on June 3, 1929. From the beginning, he distinguished himself professionally, graduating as his company's honor man from recruit training in San Diego and finishing first in his class at Machinist Mate School in Norfolk, Virginia. His early naval service took him aboard USS Henderson, the hospital ship USS Relief, the minesweeper USS Brant, the destroyer USS Simpson, and the cruiser USS Minneapolis. While serving aboard Relief, Ross experienced his first action while supporting Marines in Nicaragua in 1931. He continued advancing through the enlisted ranks, became a Warrant Officer, and was eventually assigned to the battleship USS Nevada (BB-36).

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Ross was serving aboard Nevada as a Warrant Officer Machinist when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor. Deep inside the battleship, his forward dynamo room filled with smoke, steam, and extreme heat as the ship fought to maintain power. Ross ordered his men out of the increasingly dangerous compartment and remained behind to operate the machinery himself. According to his Medal of Honor citation, he continued working until he was blinded and rendered unconscious. After being rescued and revived, he returned to secure the forward dynamo room before proceeding to the after dynamo room, where exhaustion again caused him to lose consciousness. Once revived for a second time, he again returned to his station and stayed there until ordered to leave.

Ross's determination helped preserve the electrical power needed aboard USS Nevada during one of the most desperate moments in the ship's history. Nevada became the only battleship to get underway during the Pearl Harbor attack. His official citation recognized his "extraordinary courage and disregard of his own life", a concise description of an ordeal in which he repeatedly placed duty to his ship and crew ahead of his own survival.

For his conduct at Pearl Harbor, Ross received the Medal of Honor, presented by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz on April 18, 1942. He was commissioned an Ensign in June 1942 and continued serving through World War II. His wartime career did not end at Pearl Harbor. Ross later participated in the Normandy landings and the invasion of Southern France, carrying his naval service from the Pacific crisis of 1941 into the Allied campaigns in Europe.

His broader service also spanned the campaigns represented in his verified ribbon record, including service connected with Nicaragua, American defense before the United States entered World War II, the Asiatic-Pacific and European-African-Middle Eastern theaters, World War II victory service, and the postwar period that qualified him for the National Defense Service Medal. These campaign and service awards represent the extraordinary geographical and chronological range of a naval career that began in 1929 and continued well into the Cold War era. The Navy's official award system places these campaign and service medals separately from personal decorations such as the Medal of Honor.

Ross continued his career after World War II and rose through the commissioned ranks. He retired from active service in July 1956, holding the rank of Captain, after 27 consecutive years of naval service. An official Navy history of the Limited Duty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer community records that Ross had reached Commander and was ceremonially advanced to Captain upon retirement. His career therefore stretched from the interwar Navy of the 1920s, through Nicaragua, Pearl Harbor and World War II, into the postwar United States Navy.

Donald Kirby Ross died in 1992, but his connection to the Navy did not end with his death. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71) was named in his honor, ensuring that the name of the machinist who refused to leave his post at Pearl Harbor would continue to sail with future generations of American sailors. The Naval History and Heritage Command also preserves official photographs of Ross, including an image of him at Pearl Harbor during the fiftieth anniversary ceremonies in December 1991, wearing the Medal of Honor he had earned there half a century earlier.