*HAMMERBERG, OWEN FRANCIS PATRICK
Rank and organization: Boatswain's Mate
Second Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 31 May 1920, Daggett, Mich. Accredited to:
Michigan.
Citation:
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 of
water and 20 feet 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 imbedded 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.
