John King (7 February 1865 – 20 May 1938) was an Irish sailor in the United States Navy and one of only 19 in history to receive the Medal of Honor twice.

Biography

Born in the village of Currabee, near Ballinrobe (then in

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, now

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

), Ireland, King was allegedly involved in an incident at Cornmarket Ballinrobe, a result of which he was being sought by the R.I.C. (Royal Irish Constabulary). He walked 18 miles to Tuam County Galway and took the train, rather than going from Ballinrobe railway station, eventually arriving in then Queenstown, now Cobh County Cork. He then worked for his passage to the USA. King later enlisted in the Navy as a coal passer in Vermont on 20 July 1893. He served on board in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

during the Spanish–American War, and, in 1900, was transferred to for service during the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

. King received his first Medal of Honor while in ''Vicksburg'' "for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession at the time of the accident to the boilers... May 29, 1901." Eight years later, while a

watertender A fireman, stoker or watertender is a person whose occupation it is to tend the fire for the running of a boiler, heating a building, or powering a steam engine. Much of the job is hard physical labor, such as shoveling fuel, typically coal, into ...

on the , King received a second Medal of Honor during another boiler explosion on 13 September 1909. Advanced to

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watertender on 1 October 1909, he continued to serve at sea until discharged in 1916. The beginning of World War I, however, brought Chief King back on active duty; he served in

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until 20 August 1919. He lived in retirement until his death on 20 May 1938. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

, Arkansas.

Legacy

In January 1960 a US navy destroyer was launched and named . It paid a visit to Dublin, Ireland in December 1961 under the command of Commander Albert.M. Sackett, who subsequently unveiled a plaque in remembrance of John King at Ballinrobe, County Mayo, Ireland. Members of the Burke and Flannery families, living relatives of John King attended. Some members of the Burke and Flannery families from Ballinrobe were hosted on board the John King at Dublin. On 4 September 2010, a statue of King was unveiled in Ballinrobe by Irish

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Tony Killeen Tony Killeen (born 9 June 1952) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served Minister for Defence from 2010 to 2011, Minister of State for Fisheries and Forestry from 2008 to 2010, Minister of State at the Department of the Environme ...

. Present at the ceremony was a relative, Ann Reid, whose father was King's nephew. She remarked, "My dad used to talk about him all the time. On his visits to Ballinrobe from America, he would throw sweets and coins to the children of the town." Michael Burke, Dun Laoghaire County Dublin and originally from Cavan Ballinrobe County Mayo, a living relative, spoke at the unveiling and recalled some of the times he as a young man met and ran errands for John King. Pupils from Ballinrobe NS added a touch of naval flavour to the occasion by accompanying a float the Ballinrobe Scout group constructed of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

USS ''John King'' to the ceremony, towed into the arena by a vintage tractor. Former crew members of the USS ''John King'' representing the USS ''John King'' association, participated in the ceremony and a unit of the U.S. Navy Band from Naples, Italy were also present.

Awards

* Medal of Honor (2 awards) * Sampson Medal * Spanish Campaign Medal * Philippine Campaign Medal * World War I Victory Medal

Medal of Honor citations

1st Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 February 1865, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 72, 6 December 1901. Second award. Citation:

On board the U.S.S. ''Vicksburg'', for heroism in the line of his profession at the time of the accident to the boilers, 29 May 1901.

2nd Medal of Honor

G.O. No.: 40, 19 October 1909. Citation:

Watertender, serving on board the U.S.S. ''Salem'', for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession on the occasion of the accident to one of the boilers of that vessel, 13 September 1909.

References

: * * http://www.independent.ie/national-news/naval-heroism-remembered-2326084.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20060430232025/http://www.thewildgeese.com/pages/mdohhome.html * http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_peace/king_john.html {{DEFAULTSORT:King, John 1865 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Irish people American military personnel of the Philippine–American War American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Double Recipients of the Medal of Honor Irish emigrants to the United States Irish sailors in the United States Navy Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Military personnel from County Mayo Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor Military personnel from County Galway United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War I People from Ballinrobe