| Herbert Charpiot Jones | |
| Birth Date: | 21 January 1918 |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles, California |
| Death Place: | Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii |
| Placeofburial: | Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California |
| Placeofburial Label: | Place of burial |
| Medal: | Moh right.gif |
| Medal Alt: | A light blue neck ribbon with a gold star shaped medallion hanging from it. The ribbon is similar in shape to a bowtie with 13 white stars in the center of the ribbon. |
| Allegiance: | United States of America |
| Branch: | United States Navy |
| Serviceyears: | 1935 - 1941 |
| Rank: | Ensign |
| Battles: | World War II |
| Awards: | Medal of Honor |
Herbert Charpiot Jones (January 21, 1918 - December 7, 1941) was an officer in the United States Navy who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Herbert Jones was born on January 21, 1918, at Los Angeles, California and enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve May 14, 1935. He was commissioned an ensign on November 14, 1940, and reported to the battleship at Pearl Harbor two weeks later.
On December 7, 1941, the 23-year-old ensign was about to relieve the officer-of-the-deck on California when Japanese planes swooped in to attack. In the first wave, a torpedo and a bomb hit the ship. Jones dove into a smoke-filled hatchway and crawled along oil-slicked decks to rescue a stricken sailor before being temporarily overcome by fumes. Reviving, he saw an anti-aircraft battery without a leader and, staggering to his feet, took command. As a second wave of Japanese planes came in, the young officer fired his guns until all their ammunition was expended. Since the torpedo had put Californias ammunition hoist out of action, Jones quickly organized a party of volunteers to go below and pass the ammunition up by hand. The vitally needed shells had just begun to reach the battery when a bomb hit the ship and mortally wounded him.
| Medal of Honor | ||
| Purple Heart | Combat Action Ribbon | Navy Good Conduct Medal |
| American Defense Service Medal w/ Fleet Clasp (" Bronze Star) | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ one " Silver Star and one " Bronze Star | World War II Victory Medal |
For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Ens. Jones organized and led a party, which was supplying ammunition to the antiaircraft battery of the U.S.S. California after the mechanical hoists were put out of action when he was fatally wounded by a bomb explosion. When 2 men attempted to take him from the area which was on fire, he refused to let them do so, saying in words to the effect, "Leave me alone! I am done for. Get out of here before the magazines go off."[1]
was named in his honor. The ship was launched January 19, 1943, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. Joanne Ruth Jones, his widow; and commissioned on July 21, 1943, Lieutenant Commander Alfred W. Gardes, Jr. in command.