Matthew Gillick
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Matthew Gillick (born 1852, date of death unknown) 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

Born in April 1852 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 ...
, Gillick joined the Navy from that state on July 16, 1881, at the age of 29 years and 3 months. By November 20, 1883, he was serving as a boatswain's mate on the . On that day, while ''Lancaster'' was at
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
, France, a boy fell into the water from a
breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...
near the ship. Gillick and another sailor, Ordinary Seaman Apprentice John F. Auer, jumped overboard and rescued him. For this action, both Gillick and Auer were awarded the Medal of Honor a year later, on October 18, 1884. Gillick's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Serving on board the U.S.S. ''Lancaster'' at Marseille, France, 20 November 1883. Jumping overboard from the ''Lancaster'', Gillick rescued from drowning a French lad who had fallen into the sea from a stone pier astern of the ship.
Details of Gillick's later life, death and burial are unknown.


See also

*
List of Medal of Honor recipients during peacetime Prior to 1963, the Medal of Honor could be awarded for actions not involving direct combat with "an enemy of the United States" or "opposing foreign force (actions against a party in which the U.S. is not directly engaged in war with).DoD Awards ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillick, Matthew 1852 births Year of death missing Military personnel from Providence, Rhode Island United States Navy sailors United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor