Robert J. Peterson’s Navy Cross citation

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to

Robert James Peterson

Radioman Second Class, U.S. Navy

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

for distinguished service and devotion to duty when, promptly at the onset of the first attack by Japanese planes on the Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941, Radioman Second Class Peterson secured and manned a machine gun mounted on an instruction stand in a completely exposed section of an airplane parking ramp under heavy enemy machinegun strafing fire. He continued to return the enemy fire with telling effect during three enemy strafing and bomb-attacks, with complete disregard for his own safety. Immediately following one attack he entered a group of blazing planes in which ammunition and gasoline exploded violently. Without assistance he extinguished a serious fire in one plane, saving it from destruction. His extraordinary heroism and conduct in this action are considered to be in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.