Medal of Honor
September 17, 1917
at Sea
- Rank at action
- Shipfitter First Class
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Conflict
- World War I
- Unit or command
- U.S.S. Huntington
- Presentation date
- December 31, 1917
The Citation
Sources ↓For extraordinary heroism while attached to the Huntington. On the morning of 17 September 1917, while the U.S.S. Huntington was passing through the war zone, a kite balloon was sent up with Lt. (j.g.) H. W. Hoyt, U.S. Navy, as observer. When the balloon was about 400 feet in the air, the temperature suddenly dropped, causing the balloon to descend about 200 feet, when it was struck by a squall. The balloon was hauled to the ship's side, but the basket trailed in the water and the pilot was submerged. McGunigal, with great daring, climbed down the side of the ship, jumped to the ropes leading to the basket, and cleared the tangle enough to get the pilot out of them. He then helped the pilot to get clear, put a bowline around him, and enabled him to be hauled to the deck. A bowline was lowered to McGunigal and he was taken safely aboard.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- Patrick McGunigal — 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-003395
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-09-02
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 341
- Accredited to
- Ohio
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- e56119ab320de945f5717bbf814106d4ef7435fe1fa2bb00ef37de06534acf77
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.