World War II Honoree

James Edwin Craig

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Jacksonville, Florida

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Lieutenant Commander. A Graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Location: Annapolis, Maryland. He was stationed aboard the USS Pennsylvania Battleship, BB-38 as a Damage Control Officer, and based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands. 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 Battleship moored in dry-doc for repairs on the propeller shafts, when she was strafed and bombed. During the bombardment, one bomb penetrated the main deck, detonating in the number nine-gun battery. The Battle of Pearl Harbor took his life during the ensuing attack, and interred in the Oahu Nuuanu Cemetery, Territory of Hawaii. In the post-war era, his family requested that he be buried with Military Honors at Honolulu Memorial Cemetery Location: Honolulu, Hawaii, with interment January 27, 1949. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.