WWII · Battle Death Record
Milton Ricketts
Lieutenant, U.S. Navy · Maryland
Medal of Honor
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Milton Ricketts
- Entered the Service From
- Maryland
- Rank
- Lieutenant
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Unit / Regiment
- USS Yorktown (CV-5)
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- May 8, 1942
- Awards
- Medal of Honor, Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing, Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
- Grave
- Tablets of the Missing
Their story
As Officer-in-Charge of the Engineering Repair Party aboard USS Yorktown during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942, Lt. Ricketts was mortally wounded when a Japanese bomb exploded near his station. Despite his fatal injuries, he opened a nearby fireplug valve, led out the fire hose, and directed water onto the fire before dropping dead beside the hose, helping save the ship. He was buried at sea.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.