"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life
above and beyond the call of duty as a diver engaged in rescue
operations at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1945. Aware of the
danger when 2 fellow divers were hopelessly trapped in a cave-in of
steel wreckage while tunneling with jet nozzles under an LST sunk in 40
feet (12 m) of water and 20 feet (6.1 m) of mud. Hammerberg
unhesitatingly went overboard in a valiant attempt to effect their
rescue despite the certain hazard of additional cave-ins and the risk of
fouling his lifeline on jagged pieces of steel embedded in the shifting
mud. Washing a passage through the original excavation, he reached the
first of the trapped men, freed him from the wreckage and, working
desperately in pitch-black darkness, finally effected his release from
fouled lines, thereby enabling him to reach the surface. Wearied but
undaunted after several hours of arduous labor, Hammerberg resolved to
continue his struggle to wash through the oozing submarine, subterranean
mud in a determined effort to save the second diver. Venturing still
farther under the buried hulk, he held tenaciously to his purpose,
reaching a place immediately above the other man just as another cave-in
occurred and a heavy piece of steel pinned him crosswise over his
shipmate in a position which protected the man beneath from further
injury while placing the full brunt of terrific pressure on himself.
Although he succumbed in agony 18 hours after he had gone to the aid of
his fellow divers, Hammerberg, by his cool judgment, unfaltering
professional skill and consistent disregard of all personal danger in
the face of tremendous odds, had contributed effectively to the saving
of his 2 comrades. His heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout
enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country."
From BM2 Hammerberg's Medal of Honor citation, awarded in 1942.
May you be at peace,
Brian & Melonie
Memorial in Madison Heights, Michigan
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