Edward Allen "Eddie" Gisburne (June 14, 1892 – August 29, 1955) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

, for his role in the battle which began the U.S. occupation of Veracruz, Mexico. He earned the medal as an enlisted man for ignoring heavy fire and his own severe injuries to drag a wounded

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

to safety. Although he lost his left leg in the fight, he went on to complete two more terms of service with the Navy, one as a radio operator during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and another as a 50-year-old

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life and career

Born on June 14, 1892, in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

,Steve Fitzgibbon. "Edward Gisburne Hoed Own Row and it was Rough." Boston Daily Record, September 5, 1932, p. 13. Gisburne attended school in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

. He came from a family with a tradition of naval service, with six generations having served in the Navy since the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. An only child, Gisburne's father died when he was 5, and his mother died months later. He eventually moved in with his paternal grandparents in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he lived for the next ten years. In 1910, he graduated from Washington's McKinley Manual Training School. He held a childhood interest in electricity and later wireless telegraphy which led to a career in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

technology. After his graduation, Gisburne worked for an electrical company in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

for a few months before finding work at the Boston Navy Yard. While there, he and a group of friends decided on a whim to join the Navy; Gisburne enlisted for a four-year term of service on August 30, 1910. He was first stationed as a

signaler A signaller, signalman, colloquially referred to as a radioman or signaleer in the armed forces is a specialist soldier, sailor or airman responsible for military communications. Signallers, a.k.a. Combat Signallers or signalmen or women, are ...

on the battleship and then on the supply ship .

Veracruz and World War I

In early 1914, Gisburne, by then an electrician third class, was transferred to the and became the battleship's chief radio operator. On April 21, 1914, in the midst of the ongoing

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

, ''Florida'' was one of three U.S. Navy ships which landed a combined Navy and Marine Corps force at Veracruz, Mexico, in response to the Tampico Affair. The landings began a three-day battle which ended with U.S. occupation of the city.

Accompanying ''Floridas landing party, Gisburne and others made their way to the roof of Veracruz's Terminal Hotel in order to establish a communications station. When the position came under fire, a Marine Corps rifle squad was sent to provide protection. The first marine to reach the roof, Private Daniel A. Haggerty of

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, was almost immediately shot in the stomach and fell such that he was partially hanging off the roof. Gisburne himself was severely wounded in the legs, leaving him unable to walk. Despite this, he crawled through the continuous heavy fire to reach the unconscious Haggerty, pulled him fully onto the roof, and then dragged him to a place of shelter before falling unconscious himself. The two were found still sitting on the roof, with Haggerty dead in Gisburne's arms. Gisburne eventually recovered from his injuries, but his left leg had to be amputated at mid-thigh. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Veracruz two months after the battle, on June 15, and was discharged from the Navy after a further two months, on August 17. Gisburne's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. ''Florida'' during the seizure of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 21 and 22 April 1914, and for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during this action.

On April 5, 1917, exactly one day before the U.S. entered

by declaring war on Germany, Gisburne rejoined the Navy at the

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

rank of gunner (radio). Due to his missing leg, he had to get a waiver from the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

Josephus Daniels Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was an American newspaper editor and publisher from the 1880s until his death, who controlled Raleigh's ''News & Observer'', at the time North Carolina's largest newspaper, for decades. A D ...

, before he could rejoin. He was promoted to the

rank of ensign on January 12, 1918, and to

lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is ...

on December 5 of that year (retroactive to November 20). A radio operator, Gisburne handled communications for all cruisers and transports operating in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

during the war. He was serving on the transport when it carried President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

to Europe for the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Gisburne was given a medical retirement on August 9, 1920, two years after the end of the war.

Civilian life

After his first enlistment in the Navy, Gisburne settled in Milton, Massachusetts, where he would live for 35 years. He married Ena Frye of Boston and the couple had two sons, Edward Jr. and John. He held a number of jobs, including as a teacher of classes about radio at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, a reporter for '' The Patriot Ledger'' in Quincy,"Ex-Reporter of Ledger to Join WEEI." Quincy (MA) Patriot-Ledger, January 7, 1928, p. 1. and a district manager for the Boston Edison Company. He began a broadcasting career with Boston radio station WEEI in late 1927. He started as an editor and, from 1928 through the 1930s, was an announcer. Gisburne was an avid golfer with the Wollaston Golf Club and participated in the Engineers Club of Boston. He was also active in civic affairs, becoming a member of the Milton Town Club and twice being elected to the Milton School Committee, in 1935 and 1938.

World War II and later years

Despite being both an amputee and 50 years old, Gisburne began a third stint in the Navy after the 1941

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

. He served as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

at Naval Air Station Quonset Point in Rhode Island. Both of his sons also served in the war. The older son, Edward Jr., fought in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

with the

40th Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and earned the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

for his actions in aerial combat with the Japanese; he was killed in action at age 29 on May 26, 1945, when his

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

went down. Gisburne and his wife moved to Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 1950. He died at age 63 on August 29, 1955, at

Chelsea Naval Hospital Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 s ...

. He was interred in a family plot at

Milton Cemetery Milton Cemetery is a historic cemetery at 211 Centre Street in Milton, Massachusetts. Established in 1672, it is the town's only municipal burying ground. There are three distinct sections to its grounds: the original burying ground, a tract ...

which also includes the grave of his wife Ena and a memorial marker for his son Edward Jr. He is one of two Medal of Honor recipients buried in the cemetery, the other being Indian Wars soldier

Paul H. Weinert Sergeant Paul H. Weinert (July 15, 1869 – January 19, 1919) was an American soldier in the U.S. Army who served with the 1st U.S. Artillery during the Indian Wars. He was one of twenty men who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at w ...

References

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