World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. James was posthumously awarded the CMOH for his bravery during the Japanese Navy attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, where he was serving in the United States Navy as a Seaman First Class aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma.

S1c Ward's body was never recovered. A cenotaph was placed for him in Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio, which was his hometown, and his name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing Walls at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

UPDATE: S1C James Ward was accounted for and will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 21st, 2023.

James Richard Ward was born on September 10, 1921, in Springfield, Ohio to Howard J. and Nancy M. Ward. Some sources claim he was their only child but in fact he had a younger sister.

Ward graduated from Springfield High School on June 15, 1939. He enjoyed the game of baseball and a newspaper article quoting his hometown newspaper reported "Even at the age of 12 he was laying a firm foundation for the baseball skill which was later to win him honors, first in the sandlot league, a brief minor league contact and finally the batting championship of the Pacific Fleet."

Ward enlisted in the Navy on November 25, 1940. Most sources recorded that he enlisted in Springfield, Ohio but the Oklahoma Muster Rolls list it as Cincinnati, Ohio. Some very early sources have him accredited to North Carolina but the family was able to get this corrected.

Ward was assigned to the Oklahoma from the Great Lakes Training Station in Illinois on January 27, 1941. He was promoted to Seaman Second Class on March 25, 1941, and to Seaman First Class on August 1, 1941. While serving on the Oklahoma, he joined the ships baseball team and earned the above mention batting championship of the Pacific Fleet.

Ward's Naval service was abruptly cut short on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Oklahoma was moored in Battleship Row when the Japanese attacked. Oklahoma took three torpedo hits almost immediately after the first Japanese bomb fell on Ford Island. As she capsized, six more torpedoes struck home. 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.

Ward's actions are described in his Medal of Honor citation: "When it was seen that the U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, Ward remained in a turret holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life."

Ward's citation is very similar to that of his shipmate Ensign Francis Flaherty who also held a flashlight so a turret crew could escape. History does not make clear if they were in the same turret or different turrets. From there, Ward, like Flaherty, slipped from the record. Ward's body was never identified and he remains Lost in History. Ward and Flaherty were both awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for their actions that day.

Ward's award of the Medal of Honor was announced on March 15, 1942. His citation reads: "For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. When it was seen that the U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon ship, Ward remained in a turret holding a flashlight so the remainder of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life."

As were many of the early awards in WWII, Ward's Medal of Honor was sent to his family via registered US Mail. His parents wrote a letter to President Roosevelt on March 17, 1942, thanking him for the Medal and citation.

Ward received other honors for his sacrifice. The Navy commissioned a Destroyer Escort in his honor. The J. Richard Ward (DE-243) was launched by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas on January 6, 1943, and was sponsored by his sister Marjorie Ward.

The USS J. Richard Ward served until June 1946 when she was decommissioned.

In October 1942, the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho named one of its training camps for Ward.

One of the men training at Camp Ward painted a portrait of Ward using available photographs of him and the portrait was sent to Ward's parents in 1945. A 1953 newspaper article included a photograph of it hanging in their home.

In April 1953, a new baseball field was erected at Pearl Harbor and it was named Ward Field in Ward's honor. Ward's parents were flown to Hawaii to witness the dedication and were met at the airport by one of the men Ward had helped save that fateful December day. The press noted that a bronze plaque was placed "in a conspicuous spot on the field". The field reportedly had a brand new $84,000 lighting system.

James Richard Ward is memorialized with an In Memory Of marker in Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield, Ohio.

The former Farragut Naval Training Station is now an Idaho State Park. A sign commemorating Ward stands at the former Camp Ward.

In April 2015, the Defense Department announced plans to exhume those believed killed aboard the Oklahoma and buried as Unknown's in Hawaii. As of June 2021, over 388 sailors and marines were identified. In September 2019, Ward's shipmate and fellow recipient Ensign Flaherty was identified but sadly, so far none of the remains belong to Seaman First Class James Ward. The effort is scheduled to conclude in December 2021. An article posted on the DPAA webpage reports that that those not identified have already been returned to Hawaii for reburial in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

The USS Oklahoma never served her country again. After the war, she was salvaged, righted, decommissioned and sold for scrap but she sank while under tow enroute to California. Some reports state that while under tow she began to list and the tug boats were ordered back to Pearl Harbor. About 100 miles later, the Oklahoma's towing wire slipped through the guides in a shower of sparks and she went down.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please click HERE to email Together We Served directly.

Sources and suggested reading for James Richard Ward:

54th Annual Reunion Army and Navy Legion of Valor, New York, 1944 (contains short biographies of both posthumous and living recipients)

Pearl Harbor's Hidden Heroes: The 18 Medals of Honor Awarded for Bravery in the Hawaiian Islands During World War II: 1941, 1942, and 1945, Colonel Charles A. Jones, USMCR, Retired, CreateSpace, 2017.

Compiled by Gayle Alvarez, Medal of Honor Historical Society

We are the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States www.mohhsus.com Our Mission is to provide for the research, preservation, and documentation of the history of the individuals who have been awarded the Medal of Honor.

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History of USS J. Richard Ward (DE-243)

http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/243.htm

History of USS Oklahoma (BB-37)

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/37a.htm

Farragut Naval Training Station (Images of America) Gayle E. Alvarez and Dennis Woolford, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, SC, 2009