Thomas Smith (born 1856, date of death unknown) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

. Born in 1856 in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, Smith emigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. By October 1, 1878, he was serving as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

on the . On that day, while ''Enterprise'' was off the coast of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, he rescued Coxswain William Kent from drowning. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Smith's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For rescuing from drowning William Kent, coxswain of the U.S.S. ''Enterprise'', off Para, Brazil, 1 October 1878.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Thomas 1856 births Year of death missing Irish emigrants to the United States United States Navy sailors United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Irish sailors in the United States Navy Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor

See also

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