| William Pinckney | |
| Birth Date: | April 27, 1915 |
| Birth Place: | Dale, South Carolina, US |
| Death Place: | Beaufort, South Carolina, US |
| Placeofburial: | Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, South Carolina, US |
| Placeofburial Label: | Place of burial |
| Serviceyears: | 1938–1946 |
| Rank: | Petty officer first class |
| Unit: | USS Enterprise (CV-6) |
| Battles: | World War II |
| Awards: | Navy Cross Purple Heart |
William Pinckney (April 27, 1915July 21, 1976) was a United States Navy sailor who was the second African American to be awarded the Navy Cross,[1] [2] [3] the second-highest decoration for valor in combat after the Medal of Honor.[4] Pinckney received the medal for saving the life of a fellow crew member on board the during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. The is named in his honor.
Pinckney was born in Dale, South Carolina, on April 27, 1915, to Renty and Jenny Pinckney.[5] [6] His father worked as a carpenter on shrimp boats while his mother died when he was eight years old. Pinckney attended school through the seventh grade then worked as a carpenter on shrimp boats before he joined the Navy.[6]
Pinckney enlisted on August 3, 1938, and attended boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois. He then reported to the aircraft carrier as a cook.[6] [7] At the time, cook was one of the few ratings open in the U.S. Navy to Black sailors.[8]
While serving on the Enterprise, Pinckney took part in a number of battles including the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway,[9] and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, where the carrier suffered three direct bomb hits that killed 74 sailors and wounded 95.[10]
After repairs at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise took part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942. On October 26, the ship was struck by two 250 kg bombs that killed 44 men and wounded 75.[10] Pinckney's battle station was an ammunition handling room on the ship;[2] when one of bombs penetrated the flight deck; the explosion knocked Pinckney unconscious and killed four of the other five sailors in the compartment with him.[1]
When Pinckney regained consciousness, he discovered the compartments around him wrecked completely. He made his way through the burning wreckage to an open hangar deck hatch, where he found the only other surviving sailor, Gunner's Mate James Bagwell.[6] [2] The other sailor could not get up through the hatch and fell unconscious, so Pinckney pulled Bagwell over his shoulder and started climbing the ladder. During his first attempt, an electrical cable shocked Pinckney and he was thrown back and knocked unconscious again.[6] When he regained consciousness, he grabbed Bagwell again and carried him through the hatch to safety. Pinckney then returned down the hatch to search for more survivors.[1]
Pinckney received treatment in Hawaii for shrapnel wounds and third-degree burns before he spent the next four years at Naval Base San Diego. He left the Navy on June 30, 1946, as a Cook First Class.[6] [7]
Pinckney was one of only four African Americans to receive the Navy Cross during World War II.[6] [7]
Pinckney later served for 26 years in the Merchant Marines as a cook.[6]
While attending elementary school in South Carolina, Pinckney met his future wife, Henrietta. He asked Henrietta to her first dance when she was fifteen and married her eight years later in Beaufort on November 6, 1943.[6]
Additionally, Pinckney was a Mason and a member of the American Legion.[6] He died on July 21, 1976, after a two-year struggle with spinal cancer. He was buried in the Beaufort National Cemetery and was survived by his wife. They had no children.[6]
Decades later, Beaufort historian and USCB professor Larry Rowland discovered that Pinckney's headstone did not mention him receiving the Navy Cross.[11] In 2018, a new headstone was unveiled that listed the Navy Cross.[12]
In 1943, Pinckney receiving the Navy Cross resulted in coverage across the United States, including in the New York Times,[13] the Call and Post in Cleveland,[14] the Detroit Evening Times,[15] the Jackson Advocate[16] and the Negro History Bulletin.[17]
The 1945 documentary film The Negro Sailor also describes Pinckney's heroism and shows a painting of him saving Bagwell's life. It also honors Doris Miller and Leonard Roy Harmon.[18] [19]
In that same year, Senator James M. Mead gave a speech on the Senate floor about the "Service of Negroes in the Navy" in which he read Pinckney's award citation.[20]
The USS Pinckney (DDG 91), commissioned on May 29, 2004, is named in his honor.[21] In announcing the naming of the ship, Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig said that Pinckney "embodied the Navy's value of selfless service, at a time when the institution undervalued black service members. His willingness to give so much, and sacrifice for an institution which gave him so little, makes these acts for which he earned the Navy Cross that much more heroic."[22] [23]