Naval Submarine League reposted this
Author of "The Silent Service's First Hero," Naval Historian, and Adjunct Naval History Professor
The town of Putnam CT is honoring Medal of Honor recipient, Henry Breault by marking March 8, the date he received the award, as a Town holiday. There will be a ceremony held at their Veteran's Park, with guest speakers such as myself in attendance. At 1200, roughly the same time the ceremony convened 100 years ago (on a Saturday then as well!), the Putnam will remember one of its own, whom they gave to the service of the country. If you are in the area, I highly recommend attending. Putnam has done quite a bit to ensure that the memory of Breault lives on. Even before the USN made him a part of their heritage, Putnam ensured the memory of the hero buried in St. Mary's Cemetery would live on. Additional information comes from Navy General Orders 125, dated 20 February 1924: "At 6.24 on the morning of 28 October 1923, the O-5 collided with the S.S. Abangarez, and sank in less than a minute. When the collision occurred Breault was in the torpedo room. Upon reaching the hatch he saw that the boat was rapidly sinking. Instead of jumping overboard to save his own life he returned to the torpedo room to the rescue of a shipmate whom he knew was trapped in the boat, closing the torpedo-room hatch on himself. With the aid of Brown, the member of the crew who was trapped, Breault closed the water-tight door between the forward battery compartment and the torpedo room. By the time this was accomplished the board had sunk in 40 feet of water, with every compartment flooded except the torpedo room. Breault and Brown remained trapped in this compartment until rescued by the salvage party, 31 hours later." https://lnkd.in/efk6xHAW