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Medal of Honor Recipient

James Harper McDonald

U.S. Navy · Interim 1920 - 1940

MOH-RC-003329Source-based record

The award

Representative medal image: Navy star design with the 1913 blue ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Navy Medal of HonorAction-era reference: 1939

Portrait not yet available. Representative medal shown.

About this image

Presentation date is not usable for design selection. This is an action-era reference; a later presentation or replacement medal may differ. The Navy used more than one design in this period. No Tiffany Cross attribution is inferred from service or conflict alone.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Medal of Honor

May 23, 1939

Portsmouth, southeast off the Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire, USA

Rank at action
Chief Metalsmith
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
Interim 1920 - 1940
Unit or command
Not documented

The Citation

Sources ↓
For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as a master diver throughout the rescue and salvage operations following the sinking of the U.S.S. Squalus on 23 May 1939. His leadership, masterly skill, general efficiency, and untiring devotion to duty in directing diving operations, and in making important and difficult dives under the most hazardous conditions, characterize conduct far above and beyond the ordinary call of duty.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. James Harper McDonald — Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-09-02

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-003344
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-09-02
Entered service at
Washington, D.C.
Archive transcription SHA-256
42f68e595b11b7a9c5717e50ac040880a1a4fefed9ab304868dc299e670b89bf

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile comparison is documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The current official reference profile confirms the capitalization of McDonald. Its structured profile does not state a unit, so the canonical field remains Not documented rather than inferred from related profiles.

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