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World War II Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Lt. Commander Richard H. O'Kane, US Navy
Richard Hetherington O'Kane was born in Dover, New Hampshire, on 2 February 1911. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in May 1934 and spent his first years of active duty in the cruiser Chester and destroyer Pruitt. He received submarine instruction in 1938 and was then assigned to USS Argonaut until 1942. Lieutenant O'Kane then joined the precommissioning crew of the new submarine Wahoo , serving as her Executive Officer under Commanding Officer Dudley W. Morton and establishing a record as a very promising tactician.
In July 1943, Lieutenant Commander O'Kane was detached from Wahoo and soon became Prospective Commanding Officer of USS Tang , which was then under construction. He placed her in commission in October 1943 and commanded her through her entire career. In five war patrols, O'Kane and Tang sank an officially recognized total of 24 Japanese ships, establishing one of the Pacific War's top records for submarine achievement. He was captured by the Japanese when his ship was accidentally sunk off China during the night of 24-25 October 1944 and was secretly held prisoner until the war's end some ten months later. Following his release, Commander O'Kane was awarded the Medal of Honor for his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" during his submarine's final operations against Japanese shipping.
In the years following World War II, Commander O'Kane served with the Pacific Reserve Fleet as Commanding Officer of the submarine tender Pelias, testified at Japanese war crimes trials, was Executive Officer of the submarine tender Nereus and was Commander Submarine Division Thirty-Two. He was a student at the Armed Forces Staff College in 1950-51 and was subsequently assigned to the Submarine School at New London, Connecticut, initially as an instructor and, in 1952-53, as Officer in Charge.
Promoted to the rank of Captain in July 1953, O'Kane commanded the submarine tender Sperry until June 1954 and then became Commander Submarine Squadron Seven. Following studies at the Naval War College in 1955-56, he served in Washington, D.C., with the Ship Characteristics Board. Captain O'Kane retired from active duty in July 1957 and, on the basis of his extensive combat awards, was simultaneously advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral on the Retired List. Richard H. O'Kane died on 16 February 1994.
The guided-missile destroyer USS O'Kane (DDG-77), 1999-____, is named in honor of Rear Admiral O'Kane.
Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Medal of Honor to Commander Richard H. O'Kane, USN, and Master Sergeant Charles L. McGaha, USA
March 27, 1946
Ladies and gentlemen:
I think I have said on several different occasions that this, in my opinion, is the most pleasant and the most honorable job that a President of the United States has to do, to pin the medals on the heroes who have made the country great.
I have said it time and again, and I will keep on saying it, that I would rather have a Medal of Honor than be President of the United States.
These two men are samples of our fighting men in this late war. They did not, I am sure, when this action was taking place--they were not thinking of any heroic action. They were thinking only of doing their duty. They were thinking only of doing what the situation called for.
Now we have these men back home. We have those who were unfortunate, who came back maimed and crippled. This country, cannot do too much for those men. But these young men who came back sound of wind and limb, are going to go to work for this country in peacetime, just as they worked for it in wartime.
We are on the verge of the greatest age in history. We have eleven million young men who have had this training--the training which caused these heroes to act promptly and rightly in the right place. This training will help to make great citizens, who will do in peacetime for this great Nation what they did for it in wartime.
That is the reason I am not uneasy or alarmed about the future of the United States of America.
We have these young men, made of the same stuff as these two men Do. whom I have pinned these medals, to see that the country goes on to its destiny of leadership in the world. The Lord intended us 25 years ago to lead the world to peace. We shirked that duty. He has given it back to us once more, that same duty. We are not going to shirk it this time. We are going to take our place as He intended us to take it. We have won the war, and we are going to win the peace, too. We have the trained citizens now to help us win it.
Thank you very much.
NOTE: The President read the citations and presented the medals in a ceremony held at 12:30 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House.
CITATION:
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy, commanding U.S.S. Tang. Place and date: Vicinity Philippine Islands, 23 and 24 October 1944. Entered service at: New Hampshire. Born: 2 February 1911, Dover, N.H. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Tang operating against 2 enemy Japanese convoys on 23 and 24 October 1944, during her fifth and last war patrol. Boldly maneuvering on the surface into the midst of a heavily escorted convoy, Comdr. O'Kane stood in the fusillade of bullets and shells from all directions to launch smashing hits on 3 tankers, coolly swung his ship to fire at a freighter and, in a split-second decision, shot out of the path of an onrushing transport, missing it by inches. Boxed in by blazing tankers, a freighter, transport, and several destroyers, he blasted 2 of the targets with his remaining torpedoes and, with pyrotechnics bursting on all sides, cleared the area. Twenty-four hours later, he again made contact with a heavily escorted convoy steaming to support the Leyte campaign with reinforcements and supplies and with crated planes piled high on each unit. In defiance of the enemy's relentless fire, he closed the concentration of ship and in quick succession sent 2 torpedoes each into the first and second transports and an adjacent tanker, finding his mark with each torpedo in a series of violent explosions at less than l,000-yard range. With ships bearing down from all sides, he charged the enemy at high speed, exploding the tanker in a burst of flame, smashing the transport dead in the water, and blasting the destroyer with a mighty roar which rocked the Tang from stem to stern. Expending his last 2 torpedoes into the remnants of a once powerful convoy before his own ship went down, Comdr. O'Kane, aided by his gallant command, achieved an illustrious record of heroism in combat, enhancing the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service
Rear Admiral Edward J. Fahy, USN (Shipyard Commander), Rear Admiral Eugene B. Fluckey , USN (Commander Submarine Force, Pacific), Rear Admiral Richard H. O'Kane , USN (Ret), and Capt George L. Street, III are shown at the launching reception for the USS Kamehameha (SSN-642) at Mare Island on 16 Jan 1965. Admirals Fluckey and O'Kane and Capt Street are noted World War II submarine commanders.
Rear Admiral W. L. Friedell, Commandant Mare Island Navy Yard, welcomes Lt. Commander Richard O'Kane, Executive Officer, Wahoo (SS-238) back to Mare Island for an overhual on 29 May 1943. O'Kane's family surround are with him. USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
Photo courtesy of Find A Grave
Birth: Feb. 2, 1911
Durham
Strafford County
New Hampshire, USA
Death: Feb. 2, 1994
Travis Field
Solano County
California, USA
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