Harry C . Beasley Harry C . Beasley ( November 1 , 1888 – July 2 , 1931 ) was a United States Navy seaman who received the Medal of Honor for actions during the United States occupation of Veracruz , 1914 . He also served as a police officer in Newark , Ohio , where he was killed in the line of duty by unknown gunmen in 1931 . Life . Beasley was born in 1888 in Newark , Ohio . After joining the United States Navy , Beasley served as a seaman on board the . Shortly after being award the Medal of Honor in 1914 for actions during United States occupation of Veracruz , Beasley left the Navy . However , he reenlisted during World War I and served until 1921 , eventually reaching the rank of Chief Petty Officer . Service during United States occupation of Veracruz . In 1914 , Beasley took part in the United States occupation of Veracruz , 1914 , serving as an armed Navy sailor ( known as " Bluejackets " ) tasked with capturing the city ' s Customs House . Led by Ensign George M . Lowry , Beasley ' s company was pinned down by " murderous rifle and machine - gun fire . " Not wanting to risk his entire company , Lowry asked for volunteers to approach the Custom ' s House from the side . Five men volunteered : Beasley , Joseph G . Harner , Coxswain J . F . Schumaker , Boatswain ' s Mate Second Class George Cregan , and Seaman Lawrence C . Sinnett . Lowry led the volunteers into a narrow alley , where they came under a cross fire from riflemen in the Custom ' s Building and machine gunners in a nearby hotel . During this fighting , " A bullet clipped one of the buttons off Lowry ' s cap and another tore through his right legging , creasing the flesh . Beasley was slightly wounded , and Schumaker was shot through the head . " After his men were able to silence the machine gunners with return rifle fire , Lowry called for a corpsman to help Schumaker . Hospital Apprentice First Class William Zuiderveld ran down the alley and tried to stop the flow of blood from Schumaker ' s head , but was unable to do so . Schumaker soon died . Once Zuiderveld carried Schumaker to the rear , Lowry and his surviving men worked their way up the alley and scaled the wall around the Custom ' s House . After Lowry and his men smashed through a window of the Custom ' s House , the personnel inside surrendered . Several days later , Lowry returned to the scene and counted twelve bullet impacts on the wall where his men had climbed it . Beasley , along with almost all of the men who volunteered for the attack , received the Medal of Honor for his actions . Later life and death . After the war Beasley returned to his hometown of Newark and , in 1926 , became a police officer with the city ' s police department . During the evening of June 30 , 1931 , Beasley was walking a downtown beat when " he was gunned down by an armed gang attempting the theft of a safe from a local shoe store . " He died two days later from multiple gunshot wounds ; his killers were never identified or caught . Beasley is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery , Newark , Ohio . His grave can be found in section 16 , lot 123 . Beasley ' s Medal of Honor and other military awards are on display in the lobby of the Newark Police Department , having been donated by his surviving relatives . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and organization : Seaman , U . S . Navy . Born : November 1 , 1888 Ohio . Accredited to : Ohio . G . O . No . : 101 , June 15 , 1914 . Citation : On board the U . S . S . Florida for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the seizure of Vera Cruz , Mexico , April 21 , 1914 .