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Medal of Honor Recipient

James Richard Ward

U.S. Navy · World War II

MOH-RC-003050Source-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: 1941

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

1941-12-07

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, USA

Rank at action
Seaman First Class
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
World War II
Unit or command
U.S.S. Oklahoma

The Citation

Sources ↓
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.

Sources & record notes

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

  1. James Richard Ward — Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-09-01

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-003065
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-09-01
Entered service at
Springfield, Ohio
Archive transcription SHA-256
4dfc0b0372f4c8c658c25e9814452484e3d399b397d07422bcc748e34b900b74

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

Current official reference profile confirms identity and core action metadata; exact legacy citation text and checksum are retained; General Order comparison remains pending.

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