We would do well to honor & remember Francis Flaherty, who gave up his life 82 years & one day ago, staying in the turret of the capsizing USS Oklahoma after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, guiding his fellow sailors to safety, & earning the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Flaherty, from Charlotte, Michigan and raised Catholic, joined the Navy after graduating from the University of Michigan in 1940. By 1941, he was serving aboard the USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor. 

When the Oklahoma was hit by Japanese torpedoes on the morning of December 7, Flaherty stayed in one of the ship’s turret, shining a flashlight so that his fellow sailors could escape. He was trapped when the ship rolled over, twelve minutes after she was first hit. 

429 Americans were trapped and killed aboard the Oklahoma, but many more would have died had Flaherty shown such leadership and courage.

Please honor and remember this great American!