Eagle Feathers #271 – Medal of Honor   

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The first military medal bestowed by our government was a gold medal. It was awarded to a man who spent considerable time engaged in Charlestown/Somerville during the most crucial year of her history. It was bestowed upon general George Washington to commemorate the Evacuation of Boston by the British in 1776.

In early United States’ history, no recognition was given to regular soldiers and sailors until the Civil War in 1861 when Congress established the Medal of Honor for the Army and the Navy. Sergeant Nathaniel C. Barker, who later became Assistant Somerville Fire Chief, was an early recipient of this medal. After six standard bearers were shot by snipers, he retrieved the American flag and his regiment’s flag. Although severely wounded, he carried the banners aloft through the battle of Spotsylvania in Virginia.

The last Civil War Medal of Honor was presented in August, 2014, by a former Somerville resident, President Barack Obama, to First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing. The posthumous award came one hundred and fifty years after this over-looked soldier’s heroic acts at Gettysburg.

Marine Private Donald Ruhl of Montana was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving the life of Somerville marine and Iwo Jima flag raiser, Sergeant Henry O. Hansen. Hansen lived to raise both flags on Mount Suribachi but was killed on the island ten days later. Until today he is still not recognized for both flag raisings.

The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest and rarest decoration bestowed upon some of the bravest heroes who risked everything above and beyond the call of duty. Somerville’s Medal of Honor Square is situated in Davis Square at the corner of Cutter Avenue and Summer Street in front of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and the Winter Hill Bank building. Dedicated in 2007, it honors the three Medal of Honor recipients from that post. They are:

• Private George Dilboy, a United States World War I Army soldier killed in France and America’s first Greek American hero.
• U.S. Navy Commander George L. Street III, Submarine Captain during World War II. The book and later movie, Run Silent, Run Deep, staring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster are said to be based on his crew’s exploits.
• United States Navy Captain Thomas G. Kelley Retired, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded by President Nixon in 1970. Tom Kelley was also Secretary of Veterans’ Services for the Commonwealth Massachusetts for twelve years. Today, a future United States Navy destroyer is soon to bear this retired Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient’s name, Captain Thomas Gunning Kelley.

With a population of 80,842, Somerville is the most populace city in New England with 19,248 residents per square mile. Through the years, she has been familiar with ship monikers. The first one built and christened by Governor John Winthrop was The Blessing of the Bay. It slid down the ways into the Mystic River on the Fourth of July, 1631. She was the precursor of our Coast Guard and Navy. Before it was destroyed in battle, the SS John Winthrop honored him. A sampling of other Somerville note-worthies is:

• SS Marguerite LeHand – Twenty-one year (1920- 1941) private secretary to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Somerville’s children’s library is named after her.
• SS Charles Tufts – Somerville native and namesake of Tufts University.
• USS Somers – Honors Commandant Richard Somers, the namesake of our City of Somerville. Six ships have carried on his name.
• Somerville was promised a WWII Liberty Ship in her name but the sudden ending of the war canceled it.

The log span of ships being named after citizens or notables who have touched Somerville has gone on from 1631 to 2023 … close to 400 years.

Kudos and thanks to Captain Thomas G. Kelley!