Medal of Honor: Jesse Whitfield Covington – World War I – April 17, 1918

Name: Jesse Whitfield Covington
Rank: Ship’s Cook Third Class
Branch: U.S. Navy
War: World War I
Unit: USS Stewart
Date of Action: April 17, 1918
Location: At sea

Summary of Action

On 17 April 1918, Ship’s Cook Third Class Jesse Whitfield Covington was serving aboard the USS Stewart when the vessel responded after the internal explosion of the Florence H.

The waters around the wreck were strewn with debris and countless boxes of smokeless powder.

Those powder boxes were repeatedly exploding across the surface of the sea, turning the rescue scene into a deadly hazard.

Amid the wreckage, one survivor was trapped among the floating explosives and was too exhausted to help himself.

Fully aware that the powder boxes around the man were detonating and could kill anyone nearby, Covington chose to act.

Without hesitation, he plunged overboard from the USS Stewart and swam into the dangerous debris field.

Risking his own life at every moment, he reached the helpless survivor and carried out the rescue.

His fearless action in the face of exploding ordnance reflected extraordinary heroism and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Medal of Honor Citation

COVINGTON, JESSE WHITFIELD

For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Jesse W. Covington, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself, fully realizing that similar powder boxes in the vicinity were continually exploding and that he was thereby risking his life in saving the life of this man.