Medal of Honor recipient Peterson
memorialized in Richfield
By David Cooper - Times-News writer | Posted: Sunday, April 4, 2010 2:00 am |
RICHFIELD — The stirring ceremony came 68 years too late.
And still, it was almost too hard for Fred Peterson. As the only surviving son of Medal of Honor recipient Chief Watertender Oscar V. Peterson, the Rupert man was joined by family and a throng of veterans, state dignitaries and military officials Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel for a posthumous memorial and medal presentation. Given the Medal of Honor in 1942 for actions at the Battle of Coral Sea, Chief Peterson was never given a physical marker or memorial by the military. Since he was buried at sea after his death on May 13, 1942, the family never had a tangible marker for Peterson’s sacrifice, much less a memorial service worthy of a war hero. That day finally came Saturday, and with it a mixture of pride and sadness. “I survived it better than I thought I would,” said Fred Peterson of the ceremony, which attracted 850 spectators according to a Veterans of Foreign War official. “The thing that got me, I’d put everything back past it. Then it all came back up again. It kind of hurts, kind of like opening up a wound again. … I guess I should be big enough to accept it.” “He was the only one who was burying his father again today,” said Fred Peterson’s wife Mary. Rear Adm. James A. Symonds, commander of the Navy’s Regional Northwest, presented the Petersons with a 48-star American flag and a Medal of Honor as they sat in the front row of the church. Such protocol was never given to Peterson’s widow Lola Peterson, for reasons no one could explain. Instead, when the medal and certificate were issued Dec. 7, 1942, they were mailed to her. Peterson by then had left California and relocated to Richfield with her two boys, Fred and Donald. “The aftermath to Lola must have been devastating,” Symonds said in his speech. “I believe she would have benefitted greatly by a presentation with more ceremony, with more importance, than receiving her husband’s medal in the mail. “The same can be said for her efforts to get a grave marker that befits a Medal of Honor recipient. She had a right to do so. And it certainly took far too long to make it happen. “She sacrificed much for her country, in a different way, but in no less a terrible way than her husband. And that’s why it’s important for us to be here today.” Lola Peterson died in 1991; their son Donald about 18 months ago. Woven with history and music from the City of Trees Bagpipers of Boise, the ceremony made detailed references to May 7, 1942 and the Battle of Coral Sea. In the two-day battle, Japanese dive bombers ripped blasts into the USS Sims and USS Neosho, the latter an oil tanker on which Peterson was assigned as chief watertender. During a critical 17-minute bombing run, Peterson’s crew became incapacitated in an upper-level fire room. Peterson regained enough strength to then close four bulkhead steam line valves and keep the ship operational. In the process, he suffered third-degree burns on his face, arms, shoulders and hands. After four days adrift, the Neosho eventually sunk before the survivors were picked up by another ship. Peterson died days later from his injuries and was buried at sea, a few hundred miles off of Australia. “For the (commanding officer) to save as many men as possible for a potential rescue by another ship … was in part available because Chief Peterson closed those main steam line bulkhead stopwellsisolating the steam inthe engine room,”said Symonds. Symonds said the victory at Coral Sea was critical in halting the Japanese advance on Australia. The battle also crippled Japanese carriers, paving the way for another U.S. victory at Midway weeks later in June 1942, “dramatically turning the course of the war in the Pacific.” Gayle Alvarez, a board member of the Idaho Medal of Honor Society, researched Peterson’s history with a Farragut State Park ranger. In finding that no marker existed for the Medal of Honor recipient, she made an application in March 2009 with Veteran Affairs and asked Richfield about a permanent marker. After Saturday’s marker placement, a U.S. flag and a Medal of Honor official flag will stand at the Richfield cemetery to honor Peterson, according to VFW District 6 officer Robert Jackson. Veterans groups will make sure the flags are cared for going forward. Symonds said the marker can hopefully restore the loss felt by Peterson’s widow and children seven decades ago. “Certainly the first reaction of the family must be, ‘Why my husband? Why my dad?’” he said. “Maybe later with time and a perspective fed by other stories, they become, ‘Wow, that was my dad.’” David Cooper may be reached at dcooper@magicvalley.com |
II for his actions during the Battle of the Coral Sea. 
