James R. Ward

He lit a turret escape route as his own battleship capsized.

James Richard Ward was born on September 10, 1921, in Springfield, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Navy as a seaman first class aboard USS Oklahoma.

During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Oklahoma was in danger of capsizing. After the order to abandon ship, Ward stayed in a turret with a flashlight so that the other members of its crew could find their way out. He died that day while helping his shipmates escape.

Ward received the Medal of Honor posthumously. In March 1942, the medal was mailed to his parents with a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.

His remains were identified in 2021 after recovery from a group burial associated with Oklahoma. He was reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery in 2023. Memorials also commemorate him in Hawaii and Springfield. His Medal of Honor preserves the story of a sailor who remained at his post to guide others to safety.

Official citation: For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. When it was seen that the U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, Ward remained in a turret holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life.