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Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Navy. Birth: 5 April 1888, Minneapolis,
Minn. Appointed from: Wisconsin. Citation: For conspicuous devotion to
duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, during
the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor T.H., by Japanese forces on 7 December
1941. As commanding officer of the U.S.S. Arizona, Capt. Van Valkenburgh
gallantly fought his ship until the U.S.S. Arizona blew up from magazine
explosions and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss
of his life.
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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