MOH

Medal of Honor: Herbert Charpoit Jones – World War II – December 7, 1941

On the burning decks of USS California, a young ensign led an ammunition team by hand after the hoists failed — and when mortally wounded, he ordered his men to leave him behind so they might live.

December 9, 2025

Name: Herbert Charpoit Jones
Rank: Ensign
Organization: U.S. Naval Reserve
Unit: USS California (BB-44)
Place and Date: Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii – 7 December 1941
Entered Service At: California
Born: December 1, 1918 – Los Angeles, California
Departed: December 7, 1941 (Killed in Action)
Accredited To: California

Summary of Action

On the morning of December 7, 1941, USS California was struck early in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. With the battleship settling and fires spreading across the decks, her mechanical ammunition hoists were knocked out. Ensign Herbert C. Jones immediately organized and led a hand-carried ammunition party to keep the ship’s antiaircraft batteries firing.

Amid flames, explosions, and continuous strafing, Jones and his men carried heavy rounds from below decks to the gun crews, sustaining the ship’s defense at a critical moment. A bomb blast struck nearby, mortally wounding him.

Two sailors attempted to carry him to safety, but Jones refused to let them risk their lives for his. “Leave me alone — I’m done for,” he told them. “Get out of here before the magazines go off.”

He remained where he fell, ensuring his men escaped the burning compartment before a catastrophic explosion could engulf them.

His final act was to save the lives of others at the cost of his own.

Medal of Honor Citation

JONES, HERBERT CHARPOIT

Rank and organization: Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve.

Born: 1 December 1918, Los Angeles, Calif.

Accredited to: California.

Citation:

For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Ens. Jones organized and led a party, which was supplying ammunition to the antiaircraft battery of the U.S.S. California after the mechanical hoists were put out of action when he was fatally wounded by a bomb explosion. When 2 men attempted to take him from the area which was on fire, he refused to let them do so, saying in words to the effect, “Leave me alone! I am done for. Get out of here before the magazines go off.”