Louis Fred Pfeifer

He entered a smoke-filled space to rescue trapped shipmates.

Louis Fred Pfeifer was born on 19 June 1876. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at Brooklyn, New York, on 5 January 1898 and served his first enlistment under the name Louis Fred Thies. By 1901, he was a private in the Marine detachment aboard USS Petrel in the Philippines.

On 31 March 1901, a fire broke out aboard Petrel at Cavite in Manila Bay. Thick smoke and fumes made the below-deck compartments dangerous, and men who entered to fight the fire or rescue others were overcome. Pfeifer joined the rescue effort, exposing himself to the same danger to help bring trapped men out.

His Medal of Honor citation recognized his heroism and gallantry in saving others during the emergency. The award was authorized on 22 March 1902 under the name he had used during his first enlistment. His service aboard Petrel in 1901 qualified for the Philippine Campaign Medal; his 1898 naval service also fell within the later expanded criteria for the Spanish Campaign Medal.

Pfeifer continued serving after the award and reenlisted under his family name. His career ended with a dishonorable discharge in 1917, as recorded by the Marine Corps History Division.

He died on 9 February 1949 and was buried in Egg Harbor City Cemetery, New Jersey. His Medal of Honor commemorates the risk he took during a shipboard emergency in which rescuers themselves faced the danger of suffocation.

Medal of Honor citation

Serving on board the U.S.S. Petrel; for heroism and gallantry, fearlessly exposing his own life to danger for the saving of the others on the occasion of the fire on board that vessel,31 March 1901.

Citation source: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/louis-f-pfeifer