Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Musician First Class Eugene Victor Lish was born on September 12, 1920 in Florida to Wilbur Jordan and Ruth Lorraine Mcafee Lish. He served aboard the USS West Virginia. He was killed in action at the age of 21 during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. His remains were returned home and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. This is the official Posthumous Presidential Citation sent by the White House to his family. It reads:
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
Eugene Victor Lish
WHO DIED IN SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY AT
Pearl Harbor, U.S.S. West Virginia, 7 December 1941
HE STANDS IN THE UNBROKEN LINE OF PATRIOTS WHO HAVE DARED TO DIE
THAT FREEDOM MIGHT LIVE, AND GROW, AND INCREASES ITS BLESSINGS.
FREEDOM LIVES, AND THROUGH IT, HE LIVES-
IN A WAY THAT HUMBLES THE UNDERTAKING OF MOST MEN.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States of America
The condition of the certificate is very good, the signature is auto pen, there is a Coffeys stain on the lower portion. The Pear Harbor National Memorial posted about Musician First Class Eugene Victor Lish on their facebook page on what would have been his 99th birthday about along with his photo which can be seen at this link.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, West Virginia and the rest of the fleet were moored at Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor; West Virginia was tied alongside Tennessee. Japanese aircraft appeared over the harbor shortly before 08:00, beginning the surprise attack on the base. Torpedo bombers hit the ship with seven Type 91 torpedoes on her port side, while bombers hit her with a pair of 16 in (410 mm) armor-piercing shells that had been converted into bombs. The first bomb hit the port side and penetrated the superstructure deck, causing extensive damage to the casemates below. Secondary explosions of the ammunition stored in the casemates caused serious fires there and in the galley deck below them. The second bomb struck the rear superfiring turret roof; it penetrated but failed to explode. It nevertheless destroyed one of the guns, the OS2U Kingfisher floatplane on the catapult atop the turret, and knocked a second aircraft down to the main deck. That Kingfisher spilled gasoline on the deck that then caught on fire.
One of the torpedoes hit aft, disabling the rudder, at least three hit below the belt armor, and at least one hit the belt, damaging seven armor plates. These torpedoes opened two large holes in the hull, from frames 43 to 52 and from 62 to 97; at least one torpedo passed through the holes after the ship began to list and exploded on the second armor deck.[10][11] The torpedo hits caused extensive damage and the ship avoided capsizing only through prompt damage control efforts initiated by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts, then the ship's assistant fire control officer. Captain Mervyn S. Bennion was mortally wounded by bomb fragments from a hit on Tennessee; for remaining aboard the ship and assisting in its defense until he died, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. As the ship filled with water and slowly sank on an even keel, the crew was evacuated, though a group volunteered to return to fight the fires that had broken out. Fuel oil leaking from the destroyed Arizona caught fire and engulfed West Virginia in flames, which was also fed by oil from the latter vessel. The fires were eventually put out the next day.[4] A total of 106 men were killed in the attack. On 6 December 2019, the Department of Defense announced that eight of the thirty-five unknown remains from West Virginia had been identified.
IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF
Eugene Victor Lish
WHO DIED IN SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY AT
Pearl Harbor, U.S.S. West Virginia, 7 December 1941
HE STANDS IN THE UNBROKEN LINE OF PATRIOTS WHO HAVE DARED TO DIE
THAT FREEDOM MIGHT LIVE, AND GROW, AND INCREASES ITS BLESSINGS.
FREEDOM LIVES, AND THROUGH IT, HE LIVES-
IN A WAY THAT HUMBLES THE UNDERTAKING OF MOST MEN.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States of America
The condition of the certificate is very good, the signature is auto pen, there is a Coffeys stain on the lower portion. The Pear Harbor National Memorial posted about Musician First Class Eugene Victor Lish on their facebook page on what would have been his 99th birthday about along with his photo which can be seen at this link.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, West Virginia and the rest of the fleet were moored at Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor; West Virginia was tied alongside Tennessee. Japanese aircraft appeared over the harbor shortly before 08:00, beginning the surprise attack on the base. Torpedo bombers hit the ship with seven Type 91 torpedoes on her port side, while bombers hit her with a pair of 16 in (410 mm) armor-piercing shells that had been converted into bombs. The first bomb hit the port side and penetrated the superstructure deck, causing extensive damage to the casemates below. Secondary explosions of the ammunition stored in the casemates caused serious fires there and in the galley deck below them. The second bomb struck the rear superfiring turret roof; it penetrated but failed to explode. It nevertheless destroyed one of the guns, the OS2U Kingfisher floatplane on the catapult atop the turret, and knocked a second aircraft down to the main deck. That Kingfisher spilled gasoline on the deck that then caught on fire.
One of the torpedoes hit aft, disabling the rudder, at least three hit below the belt armor, and at least one hit the belt, damaging seven armor plates. These torpedoes opened two large holes in the hull, from frames 43 to 52 and from 62 to 97; at least one torpedo passed through the holes after the ship began to list and exploded on the second armor deck.[10][11] The torpedo hits caused extensive damage and the ship avoided capsizing only through prompt damage control efforts initiated by Lieutenant Claude V. Ricketts, then the ship's assistant fire control officer. Captain Mervyn S. Bennion was mortally wounded by bomb fragments from a hit on Tennessee; for remaining aboard the ship and assisting in its defense until he died, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. As the ship filled with water and slowly sank on an even keel, the crew was evacuated, though a group volunteered to return to fight the fires that had broken out. Fuel oil leaking from the destroyed Arizona caught fire and engulfed West Virginia in flames, which was also fed by oil from the latter vessel. The fires were eventually put out the next day.[4] A total of 106 men were killed in the attack. On 6 December 2019, the Department of Defense announced that eight of the thirty-five unknown remains from West Virginia had been identified.
- This product is available for international shipping.
- Not eligible for payment with Paypal or Amazon