John Smith
Sailor, Military Person
1854 –
Who is John Smith?
John Smith was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Born in 1854 in Bermuda, Smith immigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from New York. By September 19, 1880, he was serving as a seaman on the USS Shenandoah. On that day, while Shenandoah was at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he and Seaman William Morse jumped overboard and rescued First Class Fireman James Grady from drowning. For this action, both Smith and Morse were awarded the Medal of Honor four years later, on October 18, 1884.
His official Medal of Honor citation reads:
For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Shenandoah, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 19 September 1880, and rescuing from drowning James Grady, first class fireman.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"John Smith." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/john_smith_1854>.
Discuss this John Smith biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In