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For his actions during the battle, Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor later that year, on
December 7. For unknown reasons, his family did not receive his medal in a formal presentation ceremony as was typical. Instead, the medal and accompanying certificate were mailed to his widow.
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by enemy
Japanese aerial forces on 7 May 1942. Lacking assistance because of injuries to the other members of his repair party and severely wounded himself, Peterson, with no concern for his own life, closed the bulkhead stop valves and in so doing received additional burns which resulted in his
364:. His wife Lola died in 1991, and his son Donald in 2008. On April 3, 2010, sixty-eight years after the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Medal of Honor presentation ceremony was held to amend for the one Peterson's wife never received. Rear Admiral
376:, was attended by roughly 850 people, including family members, veterans, and officials from the military and Idaho state government. A military-issued memorial marker for Peterson was placed in Richfield Cemetery the same day.
210:, and enlisted in the Navy on December 8, 1920. After his initial training, he spent his entire Navy career of over twenty years on sea duty aboard various ships. He and his wife Lola had two sons, Fred and Donald.
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death. His spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty, characteristic of a fine seaman, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval
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to his face, shoulders, arms and hands in the process. By shutting the valves, Peterson isolated the steam to the engine room and helped keep the ship operational.
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For extraordinary courage and conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty while in charge of a repair party during an attack on the U.S.S.
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presented the medal and a forty-eight star U.S. flag to
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was eventually scuttled on May 11 by gunfire from the destroyer
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Idaho town to hold ceremony at Mormon church to honor WWII hero
414:"Medal of Honor recipient Peterson memorialized in Richfield"
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posthumously in World War II for his actions during the
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United States Navy personnel killed in World War II
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609:World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor
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182:(August 27, 1899 – May 13, 1942) was a
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32:Chief Watertender Oscar V. Peterson, USN.
536:Claim to Fame: Medal of Honor recipients
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412:David, Cooper (April 4, 2010).
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224:. He was assigned to the
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180:Oscar Verner Peterson
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20:Oscar Verner Peterson
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532:"Oscar V. Peterson"
485:USS Henley (DD-391)
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474:USS Neosho (AO-23)
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