Herbert Charpiot Jones (January 21, 1918 – December 7, 1941) was an officer in the

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who was

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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 actions during the

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 ...

Biography

Herbert Jones was born on January 21, 1918, at

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and enlisted in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

May 14, 1935. He was commissioned an ensign on November 14, 1940, and reported to the

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Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

two weeks later. On December 7, 1941, the 23-year-old ensign was about to relieve the officer-of-the-deck on ''California'' when Japanese planes swooped in to attack. In the first wave, a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

and a bomb hit the ship. Jones dove into a smoke-filled hatchway and crawled along oil-slick decks to rescue a stricken sailor before being temporarily overcome by fumes. Reviving, he saw an antiaircraft battery without a leader and, staggering to his feet, took command. As a second wave of Japanese planes came in, the young officer fired his guns until all their ammunition was expended. Since the torpedo had put ''Californias ammunition hoist out of action, Jones quickly organized a party of volunteers to go below and pass the ammunition up by hand. The vitally needed shells had just begun to reach the battery when a bomb hit the ship and mortally wounded him.

Medal of Honor citation

For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Ens. Jones organized and led a party, which was supplying ammunition to the antiaircraft battery of the U.S.S. California after the mechanical hoists were put out of action when he was fatally wounded by a bomb explosion. When 2 men attempted to take him from the area which was on fire, he refused to let them do so, saying in words to the effect, "Leave me alone! I am done for. Get out of here before the magazines go off."

Namesake

was named in his honor. The ship was launched January 19, 1943, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation,

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houst ...

; sponsored by Mrs. Joanne Ruth Jones, his widow; and commissioned on July 21, 1943, Lieutenant Commander Alfred W. Gardes, Jr. in command.

References

: : * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Herbert Charpiot 1918 births 1941 deaths People from Los Angeles United States Navy officers United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients United States Navy personnel killed in World War II Burials at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Deaths by airstrike during World War II Deaths by Japanese airstrikes during the attack on Pearl Harbor Military personnel from California

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

Namesake

See also

References