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Gregg Baitinger, BM1
to remember
Trinidad, Telesforo De La Crux (MOH), BT1 USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town New Washington, Aklan
Last Address Imus, Cavite, Philippines
BURIAL- Imus Public Cemetery Cavite Province, CALABARZON, Philippines
Date of Passing May 08, 1968
Wall/Plot Coordinates TBD
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Telesforo de la Crux Trinidad was a Filipino Fireman 2nd Class in the United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor for actions in Mexican waters near La Paz, on board the USS San Diego on 21 January 1915. He was the second service member; first, and so far the only Sailor of Asian descent to receive the award. Trinidad served during the Great War and World War 2, and retired to the Philippines living on his pension.
Other Comments:
Rank and organization: Fireman Second Class, U.S. Navy Place and date: 25 November 1890, New Washington Capig, Philippine Islands Entered service at: Philippines
Medal of Honor Citation:
"For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession at the time of the boiler explosion on board the U.S.S. San Diego, 21 January 1915. Trinidad was driven out of fireroom No. 2 by the explosion, but at once returned and picked up R.E. Daly, fireman, second class, whom he saw to be injured, and proceeded to bring him out. While coming into No. 4 fireroom, Trinidad was just in time to catch the explosion in No. 3 fireroom, but without consideration for his own safety, passed Daly on and then assisted in rescuing another injured man from No. 3 fireroom. Trinidad was himself burned about the face by the blast from the explosion in No. 3 fireroom."
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
