Richard Antrim Richard Nott Antrim ( December 17 , 1907 – March 7 , 1969 ) was an officer in the United States Navy who received the United States ' highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor — for his actions as a prisoner of war during World War II . He retired in 1954 as a rear admiral . Early life and career . Antrim was born in Peru , Indiana and entered the United States Naval Academy in 1927 , graduating on June 4 , 1931 . He married his Canadian wife in June before he graduated . He served briefly in the 11th Naval District before reporting to the battleship as fire control officer . Detached from that battleship in April 1932 , he received flight instruction at the Naval Air Station ( NAS ) , Pensacola , Florida , before serving consecutive tours of sea duty on the , and . Subsequently ordered to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Quincy , Massachusetts , Antrim assisted in fitting out and after her commissioning , served as a division officer in that heavy cruiser until the spring of 1936 . After that time , he became assistant first lieutenant in before undergoing instruction in lighter - than - air ( LTA ) flight at NAS Lakehurst , New Jersey . Antrim subsequently received his naval aviator ( LTA ) designation , qualified for duty as an airship , kite , or free - balloon pilot . In the spring of 1938 , Antrim arrived on the Asiatic Station and served as executive officer of before joining in December 1939 , as her executive officer . The outbreak of war in the Pacific Ocean in December 1941 found Antrim still serving in that capacity . World War II . During her brief wartime career , " Pope " played a significant part in three major engagements fought by the venerable Asiatic Fleet destroyer s — the battles of Balikpapan , Badung Strait , and the Java Sea . In the former , " Pope " delivered close - range attacks that momentarily helped to delay the Japanese landings at Balikpapan . During the action , Lieutenant Antrim selected targets for his guns and torpedoes , placing his shots accurately in the midst of a large Japan ese convoy and thus inflicting damage to several enemy ships . After the Battle of Badung Strait , " Pope ' s " commanding officer , Commander Welford C . Blinn , reported that his executive officer was " highly deserving of commendation for the meritorious performance of his several duties before and throughout the action . " Citing Antrim as a " ready assistant in navigation fire control , and torpedo fire , " Blinn recommended him not only for a destroyer command but for a " decoration deemed appropriate . " Antrim later received a Navy Cross for this service . The Battle of the Java Sea ( 27 to February 28 , 1942 ) ended all Allied hope of stemming the Japanese onslaught . In the wake of that action , the smashed Allied fleet attempted to escape the cordon of Japanese warships rapidly tightening the noose around Java . Among the small groups was one composed of the British heavy cruiser , the destroyer , and " Pope " . The ships slipped out of Surabaya , Java , on the evening of February 28 , but were spotted the next day by Japanese aircraft . A surface force of cruisers and destroyers located the fleeing trio , and a fierce action ensued , with " Exeter " and " Encounter " after having put up a stiff fight , going down under a deluge of Japanese shells . " Pope " , however , fought on , managing to make a temporary haven in a passing rain squall . Unfortunately , the destroyer — an Asiatic Fleet flushdecker " old enough to vote " — could not elude her pursuers . Ultimately , damaged by Japanese bombs , from aircraft summoned from the Japanese carrier " Ryūjō " , and by shells from the Japanese force , " Pope " began to sink , but not before all but one of her men had reached safety in life rafts and the destroyer ' s sole motor whaleboat . Antrim , wounded in the action , helped to gather the life rafts around the boat to facilitate the distribution of what meager supplies were available to the men . His devotion to duty during the ordeal inspired and sustained his shipmates ' morale . Prisoner of war . For three days and nights , " Pope ' s " survivors stuck together as a group until picked up by a Japanese warship and handed over to Japanese Army authorities at Makassar , in the Celebes Islands . There , Antrim performed an unforgettable act of personal bravery . During the early part of his imprisonment at Makassar in April 1942 , he saw a Japanese guard brutally beating an American prisoner of war , Lt . ( jg ) Allan Jack Fisher , ( SC ) , and successfully intervened , at great risk to his own life . For his conspicuous act of valor , Antrim later received the Medal of Honor . Subsequently when the Japanese forced Antrim to take charge of a labor detail assigned the task of constructing slit trenches for protection during air raids , he carefully rearranged the construction work plans approved by the Japanese and gained their approval of his own ideas . Under the eyes of their captors , the POWs dug the slit trenches correctly , but in a curious pattern recognizable from the air as a giant US which clearly and craftily identified the occupants of the trenches . This audacious action possibly saved hundreds of prisoners of war from mistaken bombings by Allied planes . Antrim carried out the plan in spite of the fact that discovery of his trick would have resulted in instant beheading . For this , Antrim received a Bronze Star . Post - war activities . Ultimately liberated after the war in the Far East ended in August 1945 , Antrim returned to the United States and enjoyed rehabilitation leave before attending the Repatriated POW Refresher Course at the Washington Navy Yard , Washington , D . C . in May 1946 . He then brushed up on his pilot training at NAS Lakehurst and later completed a course at the Naval War College . The officer — who had been listed as missing since the sinking of " Pope " in March 1942 — received the Medal of Honor and Bronze Star from President Harry S . Truman in ceremonies at the White House on January 30 , 1947 . Later , following a brief stint at the Fleet Sonar School , San Diego , California , in June and July 1947 , Antrim went to sea in command of the destroyer . He next underwent further instruction at NAS Lakehurst , before assuming the duties of Assistant for Lighter - than - Air Planning and Programs Office of the Chief of Naval Operations ( CNO ) , Washington , D . C . , in December 1948 . Following further Washington duty — with the Policy Advisory Staff , Department of State , and the Psychological Strategy Board — Antrim commanded the attack transport before returning to the capital for a brief tour of duty as Head , Amphibious Warfare Matters Section , Office of the CNO , prior to his retirement on April 1 , 1954 . He was advanced to rear admiral on the retired list on the basis of his combat awards . Rear Admiral Antrim died in Mountain Home , Arkansas on March 7 , 1969 . He was buried in Section 35 of Arlington National Cemetery . Medal of Honor citation . For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while interned as a prisoner of war of the enemy Japanese in the city of Makassar , Celebes , Netherlands East Indies , in April 1942 . Acting instantly on behalf of a naval officer who was subjected to a vicious clubbing by a frenzied Japanese guard venting his insane wrath upon the helpless prisoner , Comdr . ( then Lt . ) Antrim boldly intervened , attempting to quiet the guard and finally persuading him to discuss the charges against the officer . With the entire Japanese force assembled and making extraordinary preparations for the threatened beating , and with the tension heightened by 2 , 700 Allied prisoners rapidly closing in , Comdr . Antrim courageously appealed to the fanatic enemy , risking his own life in a desperate effort to mitigate the punishment . When the other had been beaten unconscious by 15 blows of a hawser and was repeatedly kicked by 3 soldiers to a point beyond which he could not survive , Comdr . Antrim gallantly stepped forward and indicated to the perplexed guards that he would take the remainder of the punishment , throwing the Japanese completely off balance in their amazement and eliciting a roar of acclaim from the suddenly inspired Allied prisoners . By his fearless leadership and valiant concern for the welfare of another , he not only saved the life of a fellow officer and stunned the Japanese into sparing his own life but also brought about a new respect for American officers and men and a great improvement in camp living conditions . His heroic conduct throughout reflects the highest credit upon Comdr . Antrim and the U . S . Naval Service . Posthumous honor . In 1979 , the was named in his honor .