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Rank and organization: Chief Gunner's Mate, U.S. Navy. Place and date:
At sea, 9 October 1918. Entered service at: Pennsylvania. Born: 25 March
1896, Philadelphia, Pa. G.O. No.: 450, 1919. Citation: For gallant conduct
and extraordinary heroism while attached to the U.S.S. Chestnut Hill, on
the occasion of the explosion and subsequent fire on board the U.S. submarine
chaser 219. Schmidt, seeing a man, whose legs were partly blown off, hanging
on a line from the bow of the 219, jumped overboard, swam to the sub chaser
and carried him from the bow to the stern where a member of the 219's crew
helped him land the man on the afterdeck of the submarine. Schmidt then
endeavored to pass through the flames amidships to get another man who
was seriously burned. This he was unable to do, but when the injured man
fell overboard and drifted to the stern of the chaser Schmidt helped him
aboard .
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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