William Pinckney

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,"Beaufort Recognizes Navy Cross Recipient,"
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, U.S. Navy, February 15, 2018.J. D. Kitson

Military.com, accessed July 14, 2022."William Pinckney"
entry at the Military Times Hall of Valor Project, accessed July 14, 2022. the second-highest decoration for valor in combat after the Medal of Honor. 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.

Early life

Pinckney was born in Dale, South Carolina, on April 27, 1915, to Renty and Jenny Pinckney.Ship Crest and History of Navy Cook First Class William Pinckney, 1915–1975
" USS Pinckney (DDG 91), U.S. Navy, accessed July 14, 2022. 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.

Naval career

Pinckney enlisted on August 3, 1938, and attended boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois. He then reported to the aircraft carrier as a cook.Cook First Class William Pinckney
" Naval History and Heritage Command, August 14, 2020. At the time, cook was one of the few ratings open in the U.S. Navy to Black sailors.

While serving on the ''Enterprise'', Pinckney took part in a number of battles including the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, where the carrier suffered three direct bomb hits that killed 74 sailors and wounded 95.Enterprise VII (CV-6)
by Mark L. Evans, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command, April 26, 2017.

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. Pinckney's battle station was an ammunition handling room on the ship; 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

Pinckney was one of only four African Americans to receive the Navy Cross during World War II.

Post-Navy career

Pinckney later served for 26 years in the Merchant Marines as a cook.

Personal life

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.

Additionally, Pinckney was a Mason and a member of the American Legion. 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.

Decades later, Beaufort historian and USCB professor Larry Rowland discovered that Pinckney's headstone did not mention him receiving the Navy Cross. In 2018, a new headstone was unveiled that listed the Navy Cross.

Legacy

In 1943, Pinckney receiving the Navy Cross resulted in coverage across the United States, including in the ''New York Times'', the ''Call and Post'' in Cleveland, the '' Detroit Evening Times'', the ''Jackson Advocate'' and the ''Negro History Bulletin''.

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.

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.

The USS ''Pinckney'' (DDG 91), commissioned on May 29, 2004, is named in his honor. 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."U.S. Navy Names Ship in Honor of African-American War Hero
by Helen I. Rouce Washington File, Information Resource Center, U.S. State Department, March 10, 2000.

Navy Cross citation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinckney, William
1915 births
1976 deaths
People from Beaufort County, South Carolina
Military personnel from South Carolina
African Americans in World War II
Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)
United States Navy sailors
African-American United States Navy personnel
Burials at Beaufort National Cemetery
United States Merchant Mariners