Oscar V . Peterson Oscar Verner Peterson ( August 27 , 1899 – May 13 , 1942 ) was a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor posthumously in World War II for his actions during the Battle of the Coral Sea . Early life and career . Peterson was born in Prentice , Wisconsin , and enlisted in the Navy on December 8 , 1920 . After his initial training , he spent his entire Navy career of over twenty years on sea duty aboard various ships . He and his wife Lola had two sons , Fred and Donald . By the United States ' entry into World War II , Peterson had achieved the rank of chief watertender . He was assigned to the , an oiler ship operating in the Pacific theater . Battle of the Coral Sea . On May 7 , 1942 , during the Battle of the Coral Sea , the " Neosho " was heavily damaged by Japan ese dive bomber s . In one bombing raid , Peterson and members of the repair party he led were severely wounded . Despite his injuries , he managed to close four bulkhead steam line valves , but suffered third - degree burns to his face , shoulders , arms and hands in the process . By shutting the valves , Peterson isolated the steam to the engine room and helped keep the ship operational . The " Neosho " eventually sank on May 11 , and the surviving crewmen were picked up by another ship . Peterson died of his burn injuries on May 13 and was buried at sea , several hundred miles off the coast of Australia . For his actions during the battle , Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor later that year , on December 7 . For unknown reasons , his family did not receive his medal in a formal presentation ceremony as was typical . Instead , the medal and accompanying certificate were mailed to his widow . Peterson ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads : For extraordinary courage and conspicuous heroism above and beyond the call of duty while in charge of a repair party during an attack on the U . S . S . " Neosho " by enemy Japanese aerial forces on 7 May 1942 . Lacking assistance because of injuries to the other members of his repair party and severely wounded himself , Peterson , with no concern for his own life , closed the bulkhead stop valves and in so doing received additional burns which resulted in his death . His spirit of self - sacrifice and loyalty , characteristic of a fine seaman , was in keeping with the highest traditions of the U . S . Naval Service . He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country . Legacy . After Peterson ' s death , his widow and children moved from California to Richfield , Idaho . His wife Lola died in 1991 , and his son Donald in 2008 . On April 3 , 2010 , sixty - eight years after the Battle of the Coral Sea , a Medal of Honor presentation ceremony was held to amend for the one Peterson ' s wife never received . Rear Admiral James A . Symonds presented the medal and a forty - eight star U . S . flag to Peterson ' s surviving son , Fred . The ceremony , held at the Richfield meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints , was attended by roughly 850 people , including family members , veterans , and officials from the military and Idaho state government . A military - issued memorial marker for Peterson was placed in Richfield Cemetery the same day . The U . S . Navy destroyer was named in his honor .