Medal of Honor
1921-02-11
Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, USA
- Rank at action
- Private
- Service
- U.S. Marine Corps
- Conflict
- Interim 1920 - 1940
- Unit or command
- Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station, Pensacola
- Presentation date
- September 29, 1921
The Citation
Sources ↓At about 7:30 A.M. on the morning of 11 February 1921, Pvt. Smith, while on duty as a sentry, rescued Plen M. Phelps, late machinist's mate second class, U.S. Navy, from a burning seaplane which had fallen near his post, gate No. 1, Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla. Despite the explosion of the gravity gasoline tank, with total disregard of personal safety, he pushed himself to a position where he could reach Phelps, who was pinned beneath the burning wreckage, and rescued him from the burning plane, in the performance of which he sustained painful burns about the head, neck, and both hands.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- Albert Joseph Smith — current citation source ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-22
current identity, action metadata, and full citation transcription
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-000069
- Transcription status
- Current-source full text
- Last source check
- 2026-08-22
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 72
- Entered service at
- Michigan
- Accredited to
- Michigan
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 06eb14ebe59177ef05f551fc9b453db4fb569f6eb68e007e6b4486ef2254bc77
current_profile_transcription_with_whitespace_and_display_punctuation_normalized
Classified the interim era, populated the duty station as the unit, and used the full current action place.