Isadore Nordstrom (May 24, 1876 – March 6, 1930) (his first name is spelled as "Isidore" in official records) 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 ...

sailor and a recipient of the United States 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. ...

Biography

Early career

Born on May 24, 1876, in

Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

, Nordstrom immigrated to the United States and on August 17, 1897, enlisted in the Navy as an

ordinary seaman __NOTOC__ An ordinary seaman (OS) is a member of the deck department of a ship. The position is an apprenticeship to become an able seaman, and has been for centuries. In modern times, an OS is required to work on a ship for a specific amount o ...

from the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He served on the armored cruiser during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

as part of the West Indies Naval Campaign, including the climactic Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

Medal of Honor action

By April 13, 1906, he was serving as a

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

boatswain's mate on the . On that day, while the ''Kearsarge'' was conducting target practice, powder charges were accidentally ignited in the ship's forward

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

, and Nordstrom helped carry out wounded sailors. For these actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor eighteen years later, on December 4, 1924. His first name was spelled "Isidor" on the citation, this being the correct spelling in Swedish. Nordstrom's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

''For gallant conduct upon the occasion of the disastrous fire of accidentally ignited powder charges, which occurred in the forward turret of USS ''Kearsarge'' during target practice on 13 April 1906. Chief Boatswain Nordstrom, then chief boatswain's mate, was among the first to enter the turret in order to assist in bringing out the injured.''

Later career

On February 3, 1908, Nordstrom was appointed to 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 boatswain, after over ten years of service as an enlisted man. He transferred to in late 1912 before being promoted to

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

on February 3, 1914. He was assigned to the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island in November 1916.

World War I

Shortly after the United States' entry into

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 ...

in 1917, he was given a temporary commission as an ensign on July 1, 1917, and was assigned to the former German luxury liner USS ''Leviathan'' in September of the same year and served on ''Leviathan'' until April 1918. He received a temporary promotion 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 January 1, 1918. In May 1918 Nordstrom was assigned to the Navy Base in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

fitting out a division of submarine chasers which he commanded when they were commissioned. He was promoted to temporary

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 ...

on July 1, 1918. In August 1918 he was deployed to Plymouth, England and in September was reassigned to

Corfu, Greece Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek islands, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of G ...

where he was assigned to Submarine Chaser Detachment Two. In October he was assigned as the aide to the commander of the 1st Submarine Chaser Squadron on board Submarine Chaser 90 until November 21, 1918.https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3030/40808_420302988_1140-00260?pid=470454&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D3030%26h%3D470454%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3Ddnl168%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=dnl168&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true#?imageId=40808_420302988_1140-00260 After the war, Nordstrom reverted to his permanent rank of chief boatswain on October 28, 1919. At about the same time, he was assigned to Naval Station Newport in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Death and burial

Lieutenant Nordstrom died while on active duty in 1930 at age 53. He is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

with his wife, Kathryn Veronica Nordstrom.

Awards

Sampson Medal The Sampson Medal was a U.S. Navy campaign medal. The medal was authorized by an Act of Congress in 1901. The medal was awarded to those personnel who served on ships in the fleet of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson during combat operations in th ...

* Spanish Campaign Medal * World War I Victory Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordstrom, Isadore 1876 births 1930 deaths Swedish emigrants to the United States United States Navy officers United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Foreign-born Medal of Honor recipients Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor