A World War II Seaman 1st Class whose nephew lives in Gainesville will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday. Ohio native James Richard Ward posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1941, Ward was on the USS Oklahoma (BB 37) at Pearl Harbor when a Japanese torpedo struck it and it began to list. In another minute, two more torpedoes hit the 27,000-ton battleship, followed by at least two more, according to a Navy press release.
It took 12 minutes for the battleship to roll onto its side, during which time hundreds of sailors dove overboard, climbed the hull, or were plunged into darkness inside the hull as the Oklahoma filled with water. Someone gave an order to abandon ship.
Ward, a 20-year-old in the third-lowest enlisted rank in the Navy at the time, found a flashlight and remained at his post at a 14-inch turret, lighting the way for his shipmates to escape.
Ward was one of 429 men who died on the Oklahoma that day. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration of the United States Armed Forces.
The Navy named an escort ship in his honor, the USS J. Richard Ward (DE 243), in commission 1943-1972. In 1953, a new baseball field at Pearl Harbor also took Ward’s name in memory of his love for the sport.
Ward’s sister also gave Ward’s middle name, Richard, to her son.
Richard Hanna never knew Ward, but his mother and grandparents talked about the young uncle. When the Navy identified Ward’s remains earlier this year, Hanna said he tried to consider what his uncle would have wanted.
Hanna said in Ward’s generation, everyone at least knew someone who had died in World War II, so he weighed how his uncle would feel about the “big deal” of a funeral service at Arlington. He said most WWII veterans feel like they just did the job they were called upon to do.
“I think that’s probably what he would have been most proud of,” Hanna said in a phone interview. “He’d want to be remembered as somebody that, in the face of something it was totally a surprise, that he did his job.”
Hanna and his family will travel from Gainesville to Virginia for the funeral service, and Hanna said he is excited.
Hanna said because his uncle died so long ago, he is not waiting on closure that an Arlington burial might give. Instead, he said it is more about a final resting place for Ward.
When Ward died, he was buried as an Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. On February 22, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Ward’s remains had been positively identified in August of 2021, starting the journey that has led to his reburial at Arlington.
According to a Navy press release, Ward’s remains were among the final sets that could be individually identified. A rosette has been added to his name in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, signifying that he has been accounted for.
Ward was one of 16, ranging from seaman to rear admiral, who were awarded Medals of Honor for their actions at Pearl Harbor. Eleven of those medals were presented posthumously.
Hanna, who served almost 40 years in law enforcement, mostly with the Gainesville Police Department, said he is proud to be part of the legacy his uncle left.
“The important thing was to give him a final resting place,” Hanna said. “It’s hallowed ground in Arlington. He certainly deserved that. What he did, at such an early age, kind of speaks towards his character.”
The funeral service will take place at 3 p.m. on Thursday.