Serving as a sailor in the U.S. Navy, Watertender William Ahern received the Medal of Honor for his actions on July 1, 1897 aboard U.S.S. Puritan — a peacetime act of courage recognized in the Interim 1871 - 1899 period. At the time he was serving with U.S.S. Puritan. Ahern was about 36 years old.
One other service member also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day.
Ahern was born in 1861 in Ireland — one of 258 recipients born in Ireland. His Medal of Honor is credited to New York. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Records also list him as O'Hearn, William.
Official Medal of Honor citation
On board the U.S.S. Puritan at the time of the collapse of one of the crown sheets of boiler E of that vessel, 1 July 1897. Wrapped in wet cloths to protect his face and arms, Ahern entered the fireroom, crawled over the tops of the boilers and closed the auxiliary stop valve, disconnecting boiler E and removing the danger of disabling the other boilers.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Places
Veteran resources, cemeteries and meeting places in New York →
Timeline
- 1861Born in Ireland
- July 1, 1897Act of valor — U.S.S. PuritanAge about 36. U.S.S. Puritan
- Resting placeHoly Cross CemeteryBrooklyn, New York
Biography
William Ahern (1861 – November 7, 1916) was a sailor in the United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor for valor during an engineering crisis that threatened his ship.
From the Wikipedia article “William Ahern (Medal of Honor)”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the full article →