Alphonse Girandy (January 21, 1868 – April 3, 1941) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

sailor and a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

Biography

Girandy, of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, joined the Navy and served during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

in 1898. On March 31, 1901, he was working as a

Seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

on the when a fire broke out on the ship. For his actions on that occasion, Seaman Girandy was awarded the Medal of Honor one year later, on March 22, 1902. His official Medal of Honor citation reads: "Serving on board the U.S.S. ''Petrel'', for heroism and gallantry, fearlessly exposing his own life to danger for the saving of others, on the occasion of the fire on board that vessel, March 31, 1901." He continued to serve in the Navy into

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Girandy died at age 73 and was buried in

Philadelphia National Cemetery Philadelphia National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the West Oak Lane, Philadelphia, West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1862 as nine leased lots in seven private cemeterie ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania.

Awards

* Good Conduct Medal *

Spanish Campaign Medal The Spanish Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which recognized those men of the U.S. military who had served in the Spanish–American War. Although a single decoration, there were two versions of the Spanish ...

Philippine Campaign Medal The Philippine Campaign Medal is a medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created to denote service of U.S. military men in the Philippine–American War between the years of 1899 and 1913. Although a single service medal, the Philippin ...

* World War I Victory Medal

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: January 21, 1868, Guadeloupe, West Indies. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 85, March 22, 1902. Citation:

Serving on board the U.S.S. ''Petrel'', for heroism and gallantry, fearlessly exposing his own life to danger for the saving of others, on the occasion of the fire on board that vessel, March 31, 1901.

References

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Girandy, Alphonse 1868 births 1941 deaths French emigrants to the United States United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients United States Navy sailors Foreign-born Medal of Honor recipients Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor Guadeloupean people United States Navy personnel of World War I

Biography

Awards

Medal of Honor citation

See also

References