Francis C. Flaherty

He held a light to guide trapped sailors out of their turret

Francis Charles Flaherty was born at Charlotte, Michigan, on 15 March 1919. He attended the University of Michigan and entered the Naval Reserve in July 1940. Commissioned an ensign that December, he served in the battleship USS Oklahoma.

The ship lay at Pearl Harbor when Japanese aircraft attacked on 7 December 1941. Repeated torpedo hits caused her to list and capsize. With escape becoming more difficult as the ship rolled, Flaherty remained inside a gun turret holding a flashlight so the men around him could find their way out.

He stayed at his station after the order to abandon ship and lost his life. His sacrifice was recognized with a posthumous Medal of Honor, presented to his brother in March 1946. The destroyer escort USS Flaherty was named for him.

Flaherty was among the Oklahoma crew whose remains were initially buried without individual identification. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified his remains in September 2019. They were returned to Michigan and reinterred at Maple Hill Cemetery in Charlotte in 2021.

Medal of Honor citation excerpt

“For conspicuous devotion to duty and extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty”

Full official citation: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/pers-us/uspers-f/f-flahty.htm