The Medal of Honor is credited to New York, but Gunnery Sgt. Fred William Stockham is a Marine buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Union, New Jersey, most likely because as an orphan he was raised by his aunt in Irvington. He apparently joined the Marine Corps from a New York office.

But there is a story about both the Medal of Honor recipient and the determination of Marine Corps officers in ensuring that their heroes are properly remembered, respected and honored.

Fred Stockham was born March 16, 1881, in Detroit, Michigan and joined the Marine Corps prior to World War I. While serving as a Gunnery Sergeant with the 96^th Company, 2^nd Battalion, 6^th Regiment, 4^th Brigade of the 2nd Division on June 13-14, 1918, the enemy bombarded Sgt. Stockham and his fellow Marines while they were in trenches near Belleau Woods in France. Stockham, at Boi-en-Belleau. In aiding others more severely injured than himself, the Marine ripped off his own gas mask and placed it on the face of the Marine he was carrying when that Marine’s mask was shot away. Taken to a field hospital himself, Stockham died a few days later, June 22, the results of gas poisoning. More than 90 per cent of the troops were killed or wounded in that assault by the enemy in France.

Stockham’s commanding officer, Lt. Clifton Gates, wrote a citation to have the Marine considered for the Medal of Honor.

Twenty-one years later, Lt. Gates was General Gates, Commandant of the Marine Corps. He discovered that the citation he had signed and submitted two decades earlier had been lost. It was 1939, and the US Congress had closed acceptance of applications for World War I two years earlier. Nonetheless, Commandant Gates submitted his citation, and Gunny Sgt. Stockham received his Medal.

Originally buried in France, Sgt Stockham’s aunt had his body returned to the United States and he was buried in the Union Cemetery.

Sixty years after his death and years after his body was re-interred in Union, Paul Angelo the Registrar of Veterans graves for Union County, discovered there was no VA marker on the hero’s grave; he conducted the research and secured approval to obtain a VA marker. When the marker was dedicated in 1983, it was Capt. Max Cleland, a Vietnam vet who had lost both his legs in that later war, who headed the dedication team.

The Medal of Honor was presented at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, on Dec. 21, 1939. It was later presented to an American Legion Post named in Gunny Sgt. Stockham’s honor in St. Louis, Missouri. A replica of the Medal is now at the Naval Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard

CITATION

During an intense enemy bombardment with high-explosive and gas shells which wounded or killed many members of the company, GSgt. Stockham, upon noticing that the gas mask of a wounded comrade was shot away, without hesitation, removed his own gas mask and insisted upon giving it to the wounded man, well knowing that the effects of the gas would be fatal to himself. He continued with undaunted courage and valor to direct and assist in the evacuation of the wounded, until he himself collapsed from the effects of gas, dying as a result thereof a few days later. His courageous conduct undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his wounded comrades, and his conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source of great inspiration to all who served with him. Stockham

More Stories of Medal of Honor Recipients HERE

Little is known about Daniel Whitfield, a Newark native who received his al Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War.

There are numerous accounts, some accurate, others incomplete, about other Medal honorees who went into military service through New Jersey, giving the state credit for their heroism.

There are stories about another New Jerseyan, John O. Siegel who received his medal for action in Norfolk, Va. during World War I, but who was also charged more than once with AWOL, was given less than honorable discharges not once but twice, and abandoned his wife and family at some point in his career. After his military service and prison time for abandoning the service, he assumed a different name and twice applied for a duplicate of his Medal of Honor. Still, he was honored for the bravery he had shown at one point in his life.

For Quartermaster Whitfield, he was a Sailor in the Union Navy, born in 1821 in Newark and served aboard the USS Lackawanna during the Civil War. He was recognized for his bravery when the ship was at the Battle of Mobile Bay Aug. 5, 1864.

The Lackawanna was launched at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in August 1862, commissioned January 1863, and went almost immediately into the War under Rear Admiral William Farragut. to serve the Union along the Gulf Coast.

The ship captured the Confederate Neptune and the following day another steamer as part of Farragut’s successful conquest of Mobile Bay.

The Lackawanna rammed the Confederate ship, the Tennessee, the first of several actions which soon led to the Confederacy surrendering the ship and ending the Battle of Mobile Bay, closing the last major port for the Confederacy along the Gulf Coast.

Quartermaster Whitfield was serving as the captain of a gun on Aug. 5, 1864, aboard the Lackawanna, when he obeyed both instinct and orders by waiting to fire upon the Tennessee until his ship was alongside his ship.

The Sailor received the Medal of Honor Dec. 31, 1864, but little is known about his life after the end of the Civil War. It is not known when he died or where he is buried.

The Lackawanna continued to serve in the Gulf until returning to New York in June 1865. She was decommissioned July 20, 1865.

The citation

While serving as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Lackawanna during successful attacks against Fort Morgan, rebel gunboats, and the rebel ram Tennessee in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Acting as captain of a gun, Whitfield coolly stood by his gun, holding on to the lock string, and waited alongside the rebel ram Tennessee until able to fire the shot that entered her port. Whitfield courageously carried out his duties during the prolonged action which resulted in the capture of the prize ram Tennessee and in the damaging and destruction of Fort Morgan.

More Stories on the Medal of Honor and the Recipients HERE

Daniel Whitfield – Medal of Honor Recipient