World War II Honoree

Jessie Heull Murphy

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

New Orleans, Louisiana

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Seaman First Class. Inducted into the United States Navy December 13, 1939 at New Orleans, Louisiana, with recruit training at the U.S. Naval Training Station San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from boot camp, he was transferred to the USS Arizona Battleship, BB-39 for duty as an on-the-job trainee, and based at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. On Sunday Morning, December 7, 1941 the Emperor of Japan and his Naval Aviators launched their well-planned attack on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor and other military installations on Oahu. The Arizona along with her shipmates lay moored on Ford Island came under attack, and she was mortally wounded by an armor piercing bomb, igniting the ship’s forward ammunition magazine. The Battle of Pearl Harbor took his life on the day of the attack, and interred in the Oahu Nuuanu Cemetery, Territory of Hawaii. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family of this Seaman received his remains for burial, laid to rest at the Thigpen Cemetery Location: Picayune, Mississippi. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.