John Charles England comes home
A few months ago, Hondo told us that Ensign John Charles England’s earthly remains had been identified by DPAA, now we hear that he’s finally on his way to his family. He lost his life aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. According to Wiki;
On the morning of December 7, 1941, just four days from his 21st birthday John C. England volunteered to work in the ship’s radio room for a friend so that he might have more time with his family when they arrived. That morning the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the USS Oklahoma was one of their first targets. Oklahoma was moored at Battleship Row 7, outboard alongside Maryland. USS Oklahoma took 3 torpedo hits almost immediately after the first Japanese bombs fell. As she began to capsize, 2 more torpedoes struck home, and her men were strafed as they abandoned ship. Within 20 minutes after the attack began, she had swung over until halted by her masts touching bottom, her starboard side above water, and a part of her keel clear.
Ensign England survived the initial attack and escaped topside as the ship was capsizing. He remembered the men still in the radio room. He returned three times to the radio room, each time guiding a man to safety. He left to go back below decks for the fourth time and was never seen again. He was one of twenty officers and 395 enlisted men who were killed on board USS Oklahoma that morning. Ensign England’s gallant effort saved three men, but cost him his life.
Today, he’s being laid to rest beside his parents by his granddaughter in Colorado Springs.
“Nobody loved him more than his mom and dad,” said Glenn. Her grandfather’s remains arrive in Colorado Springs on Friday and will be transported by formal procession to The Springs Funeral Services. The 10 a.m. graveside service at 1005 S. Hancock Ave. will be followed by a themed reception, with reenactors from the Evergreen Cemetery Benevolent Society, Colorado WWII Living Historians and autos from the Pikes Peak Chapter Veteran Motor Car Club of America.
“We’re stepping back in time and setting up the area around the chapel as if it was Dec. 6, 1941 – the day before Pearl Harbor,” said society director and reception organizer Dianne Hartshorn.
“I just wanted something special, not only for the people who come but for Bethany and her family. He’s a Pearl Harbor hero.”
The article also says that he was awarded the Medal of Honor, but not according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Category: We Remember
Welcome home, shipmate. Rest in peace.
“The article also says that he was awarded the Medal of Honor, but not according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.”
He sure deserved something. Takes big balls to go below decks of a sinking ship…multiple times. Wonder if he didn’t received the Navy Cross.
I couldn’t find his name at the site I checked for the Navy Cross. If he didn’t receive one or the other, somebody needs to right that wrong.
Rest in Peace, Ensign England. Welcome home, Sir.
“If he didn’t receive one or the other, somebody needs to right that wrong.”
I agree IF it was a wrong at all.
His only medal was the Purple Heart. Evidently, the USS Oklahoma officers put in for him to receive the MOH but no other citations were awarded.
I am currently lobbying my Congressman in Colorado as well as the Congresswoman for the district where he lived in California to make an Act of Congress that could have his case for the MOH re-exmained. He should at least get the Navy Cross. Thanks for addressing this.
Welcome home Ensign England. Rest in peace in your home soil. God be with your family now.
Welcome Home….
Rest Well
Salute…
Welcome home, brother. You were gone but not forgotten.
Medal or no medal, John England was a hero. IIRC, his wife and newborn daughter arrived in Hawaii on December 8. England never got to see his little girl.
The Buckley-class destroyer escort that bore his name kicked some ass. USS England DE-635 definitely avenged her namesake.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_England_(DE-635)
Gets a little dusty in here sometimes….
Calm Seas and Trailing Winds.
Something is amiss here. The USS OKlahoma had two MOH recipients, Ensign Flaherty and Seaman First Class Ward, both of whom used flashlights to point others to safety after the call to abandon ship was issued. Both medals were issued posthumously. Not only was England not a phantom third MOH recipient but he was issued no valor award whatsoever, not a Navy Cross, a Silver Star, a Navy/Marine Corps Medal…nothing. Here are his awards and decorations:
AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL W/FLEET CLASP
AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL
PURPLE HEART
ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL W/STAR
Like I said, something is amiss. I do not know where this tale of heroism arose or how he came to be called, by more than one source, a Medal of Honor recipient, but I am inclined to believe that the absence of any valor award was not a Navy mistake.
The Wiki story on England has a curious history. The original Wiki account for England was very brief, giving England’s vitals and that he was a US Navy officer who was killed aboard the USS Oklahoma on 7 December 1941 and that two US ships were later named for him.
The next several Wiki versions contributed minor information. Then came a July 2007 Wiki monster makeover that provided the heroic tale in epic length, all w/o sourcing. It just—-poof!—-came to be. (Did I mention that Wiki is NOT to be trusted until its info is corroborated by separate sourcing?)
The tale of heroism seems to have disappeared from the Wiki article – it’s been newly revised as of today. The latest revision history entry:
“England received no valor awards for action aboard the USS Oklahoma and no sources are cited for his reputed heroism.”
Yes. I am responsible for that.
I figured they named a boat after him so he must have done something of note and that story was as good as any other.
Yeah, not one but two. I haven’t looked into that but I am really not motivated to do so. Ensign John C England died aboard the USS Oklahoma on 7 December 1941. That is all I need to know for there to be a vessel named after him.
I got motivated after I found more tall tales emanating from Colorado. It turns out that a number of Navy vessels were named for sailors who were killed at Pearl Harbor w/o any valorous acts attributed to them. (Shipbuilding and launching was being done at a furious pace in 1942/43.) For instance, the Destroyer Escort USS Lee Fox was named for 21 year-old Ensign Lee Fox who, like Ensign England, lost his life to the Japanese attack. So, although I, too, thought that there must have been more to the basis for the namings, there didn’t have to be. To me, you, and the Navy, losing one’s life in military service to the country used to be enough. To those who have spent years weaving tall tales about Ensign England, not so much. The Wiki piece even claims that Rear Admiral Nimitz sent the England death notice. At the time, Nimitz was chief of the Bureau of Navigation, the predecessor to the Bureau of Personnel. All notices were sent under the chief’s name, of course, but they even tried to squeeze something special out of that. I don’t get it. I guess I never will.
I love the internet. God, I hate the internet.
Wiki is now w/o the creative writing contribution of England’s heroics. The info on Wiki can be added or deleted, altered, or manipulated by anyone. I am considering adding to the oBaMa profile that he once was asked, “Do you know who chopped down the date tree?” and that he answered, “I cannot tell a lie. I certainly didn’t do it. That’s not what I’m about.”
I am certain that you are mistaken. The source of that quote was one Benjamin Franklin; who, after, published that 18th Century blog, “Poor Richard’s Almanack”.
Let us all remember the now well-known quote by President Abe Lincoln: “Don’t believe anything you see or read on the internet.”
Bon jours.
Here are two passages as well as the link from which I lifted them:
“While England received no special commendations for his rescue efforts on the USS Oklahoma, ultimately he received the highest honor that can be awarded posthumously to a Naval officer. In 1943 a destroyer escort, DE-
635, was christened the USS England, honoring the young ensign’s memory.
“At the time the ship was launched, only nine destroyers had ever been named to honor Navy officers. All but England were admirals.”
http://de635.ussengland.org/launching_of_a_legacy_-_trail_plus_january_21,_1994.htm
HMC Ret. This is fast becoming maddening. The third line you quoted is untrue also. The first USS England, according to England’s sister, was the first US destroyer named after a sailor who was not an admiral. It launched on 26 September 1943. It took me not five minutes to learn that in July of 1943, the USS Harmon (DE-678) was launched. Not only was Harmon an enlisted man, a mess attendant, but he was also Black, and the USS Harmon became the first US warship named for a Black American. (And I stoppede my search as soon as I found that. Perhaps there are other US Destroyers that were named for enlisted sailors before the Harmon.
I am beginning to suspect who is responsible for this longstanding mess of untruths but I’ll keep that to myself.
Air Cav: I found several posts re England and almost all of them differ on important points. I don’t understand it either. I don’t know what to believe. I lifted the passages directly from the link and also posted the link, BUT the information I found in this link, as I said, differed from other links. So I posted this one of the several I found.
Re Mess Attendant First Class Leonard Roy Harmon, I didn’t know of his story and his heroism and disregard for his safety in protecting his shipmates. Quite a man he was. As the article notes, the mess attendant rating was one of the few jobs available to men of color. That slowly but rightly changed for the better over the years.
I don’t know what to believe re England. As you note, and as I discovered, there are too many stories available.
Thanks for the heads up. I offered a link and quotes which I thought to be factual. Thanks again …
HMC Ret. You’re good. I take no issue with your efforts at all. The problem is the unsourced tale of heroism which I, too, have found repeated ad nauseum without a solitary attribution. I even wrote to an history site which included England among three (there were two) USS Oklahoma MOH recipients. They were able to provide citation quotes for two of the three but, of course, none for England. Instead, they used a few lines from the tale. I blame she or he who, some years ago, thought it a good idea to make a relative a hero. It never works out, in the end, and while that effort is no reflection on Ensign England’s sacrifice, it does reflect poorly on the person who started the story. (Funny thing is that the tale keeps being repeated over some years and by various writers but each uses the exact same words–again, w/o source or attribution.
Next you’ll be telling us that Dennis Chevalier wasn’t knighted by the Sweadish King! Is nothing sacred?
UPDATE. The Oklahoma Historical Society has removed its listing of Ensign England as a CMOH recipient.
Someone added information to the Wiki page earlier today. The IP address of the person who added the completely unsubstantiated information regarding Ensign England’s heroics traces to Fort Collins, Colorado, fairly confirming my suspicions. She wrote, “During the attack on Pearl Harbor, He was in the radio room of the USS Oklahoma and sent the call to abandon ship. He made 4 trips to help fellow sailors to safety, not returning from the 4th trip.” That addition is gone now. If that person visits here, I would like her to know that she does Ensign England’s sacrifice no honor with the lies. Family “stories” are often just that, stories w/o basis in fact.
And to add to the mess, here’s the Navy’s listing of ships named for individual sailors at Pearl Harbor to commemorate their actions during the attack. Someone is missing, making me wonder the reason for the naming of the John C England(X2).
http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/ships-named-for-individual-sailors.html
I did more research today and can’t figure this out. If this is an embellished story, and it seems that it may be, someone has been rocking the story for many years. It’s no reflection on John Charles England, but those doing this, if it isn’t true, serve only to disrespect his sacrifice and life. I’m out.
I served as a Radioman 2nd Class aboard the Guided Missile Cruiser USS England CG-22 the second ship of the fleet named for Ensign J.C. England. I know for sure that the Navy, having named not one but two ships after him Officially recognized his heroism medals or not.
Welcome home and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE…IT’S AWESOME when they bring someone home. When I read these, my heart skips a beat and my eyes tear up and I’m not a crybaby?