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Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy. Birth: 6 March 1894, Washington,
D.C. Appointed from: Wisconsin. Other Navy awards: Navy Cross. Citation:
For distinguished conduct in action, outstanding heroism and utter disregard
of his own safety, above and beyond the call of duty, as commanding officer
of the U.S.S. Vestal, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory
of Hawaii, by enemy Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Comdr. Young proceeded
to the bridge and later took personal command of the 3-inch antiaircraft
gun. When blown overboard by the blast of the forward magazine explosion
of the U.S.S. Arizona, to which the U.S.S. Vestal was moored, he swam back
to his ship. The entire forward part of the U.S.S. Arizona was a blazing
inferno with oil afire on the water between the 2 ships; as a result of
several bomb hits, the U.S.S. Vestal was afire in several places, was settling
and taking on a list. Despite severe enemy bombing and strafing at the
time, and his shocking experience of having been blown overboard, Comdr.
Young, with extreme coolness and calmness, moved his ship to an anchorage
distant from the U.S.S. Arizona, and subsequently beached the U.S.S. Vestal
upon determining that such action was required to save his ship.
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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