Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor recipient to get hometown burial after 80 years
Francis Flaherty, who was 22 when he died, had only enlisted in July 1940. But his actions earned him several other medals, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon. The escort ship USS Flaherty (DE-135) was named in honor of him in 1943.
Link to tweet
VETERANS
Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor recipient to get hometown burial after 80 years
BY KAREN BOUFFARD • THE DETROIT NEWS • AUGUST 20, 2021
(Tribune News Service) — When Don Colizzi learned about Francis Flaherty, a Medal of Honor recipient from his town of Charlotte, Mich., he organized a fundraising drive in 2000 that raised $20,000 in six weeks to erect a memorial later that year outside the historic Eaton County Courthouse in Charlotte.
Flaherty earned America’s highest honor for military valor in action on Dec. 7, 1941, while serving as a Navy ensign aboard the USS Oklahoma during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
On Saturday, Flaherty will be laid to rest between the graves of his parents at Charlotte’s Maple Hill Cemetery, nearly eight decades after his death. Colizzi will provide the eulogy.
“He was on the USS Oklahoma, and the ship got hit seven or eight times by torpedoes,” Colizzi said. “As it was flipping over, he held a flashlight and shined it on the corridor exit while he was knee-deep in water, and pushed a lot of guys toward the exit.”
Flaherty, who was 22 when he died, had only enlisted in July 1940. But his actions earned him several other medals, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon. The escort ship USS Flaherty (DE-135) was named in honor of him in 1943.
“He never made it out of the ship. He stayed there helping people, and that’s what earned him the Medal of Honor,” Colizzi said. “That made him a hero.”
{snip}
kbouffard@detroitnews.com
(c)2021 The Detroit News
Visit The Detroit News at www.detnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor recipient to get hometown burial after 80 years
BY KAREN BOUFFARD • THE DETROIT NEWS • AUGUST 20, 2021
(Tribune News Service) — When Don Colizzi learned about Francis Flaherty, a Medal of Honor recipient from his town of Charlotte, Mich., he organized a fundraising drive in 2000 that raised $20,000 in six weeks to erect a memorial later that year outside the historic Eaton County Courthouse in Charlotte.
Flaherty earned America’s highest honor for military valor in action on Dec. 7, 1941, while serving as a Navy ensign aboard the USS Oklahoma during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
On Saturday, Flaherty will be laid to rest between the graves of his parents at Charlotte’s Maple Hill Cemetery, nearly eight decades after his death. Colizzi will provide the eulogy.
“He was on the USS Oklahoma, and the ship got hit seven or eight times by torpedoes,” Colizzi said. “As it was flipping over, he held a flashlight and shined it on the corridor exit while he was knee-deep in water, and pushed a lot of guys toward the exit.”
Flaherty, who was 22 when he died, had only enlisted in July 1940. But his actions earned him several other medals, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon. The escort ship USS Flaherty (DE-135) was named in honor of him in 1943.
“He never made it out of the ship. He stayed there helping people, and that’s what earned him the Medal of Honor,” Colizzi said. “That made him a hero.”
{snip}
kbouffard@detroitnews.com
(c)2021 The Detroit News
Visit The Detroit News at www.detnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.