James Thayer (Medal of Honor)

He dived into the water to save a young shipmate at Norfolk.

James Thayer was born in Ireland in 1853. He served in the U.S. Navy as a ship's corporal aboard USS Constitution.

On November 16, 1879, while the ship was at the Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, Thayer rescued a boy serving alongside him from drowning. His Medal of Honor citation recognizes that lifesaving act without supplying further details about the circumstances or method of rescue. The award was accredited to Pennsylvania and was not posthumous.

Thayer died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 16, 1886. He was buried in the city's Old Cathedral Cemetery. His place in the Medal of Honor record recalls the courage required to protect a fellow sailor in an emergency beyond the battlefield. The official record leaves his childhood, enlistment date, and subsequent service largely undocumented.

Official Medal of Honor citation: For rescuing from drowning a boy serving with him on the U.S.S. Constitution, at the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Va., 16 November 1879.