Elmer C Bigelow
Elmer was born on the 12th of July 1920, in Hebron, Illinois, and at the age of 22, he enlisted in the US Navy. After training at Naval Station Great Lakes, he was assigned to the USS Fletcher as a Fireman Third Class. He reached the rank of Watertender Second Class, which was a fancy name for fireman and the rating evolved to Boilerman and eventually to Machinist’s Mate. It was Elmer’s actions on the 14th of February 1945 that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving on board the U.S.S. Fletcher during action against enemy Japanese forces off Corregidor Island in the Philippines, 14 February 1945. Standing topside when an enemy shell struck the Fletcher, Bigelow, acting instantly as the deadly projectile exploded into fragments which penetrated the No. 1 gun magazine and set fire to several powder cases, picked up a pair of fire extinguishers and rushed below in a resolute attempt to quell the raging flames. Refusing to waste the precious time required to don rescue-breathing apparatus, he plunged through the blinding smoke billowing out of the magazine hatch and dropped into the blazing compartment. Despite the acrid, burning powder smoke which seared his lungs with every agonizing breath, he worked rapidly and with instinctive sureness and succeeded in quickly extinguishing the fires and in cooling the cases and bulkheads, thereby preventing further damage to the stricken ship. Although he succumbed to his injuries on the following day, Bigelow, by his dauntless valor, unfaltering skill and prompt action in the critical emergency, had averted a magazine explosion which undoubtedly would have left the ship wallowing at the mercy of the furiously pounding Japanese guns on Corregidor, and his heroic spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.
Elmer Charles Bigelow died the following day, the 15th of February 1945, at the age of 24. His family received his Medal of Honor from Vice Admiral A. S. Carpender one year after his death and he is buried near his mother in the Linn-Hebron Cemetery in Hebron, Illinois.
