Calvin Graham

Diagnoses

Personal

Vocation

American child seaman who was the youngest U.S. serviceman to serve and fight during World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy from Houston, Texas on 15 August 1942 at the age of 12. His case was similar to that of Jack W. Hill, who was granted significant media attention due to holding service number one million during World War II, but later was discovered to have lied about his age and subsequently discharged. After attending boot camp in 1942 in San Diego, California for six weeks, he was sent to Pearl Harbor at Oahu, Hawaii where he was assigned to USS South Dakota in September. The South Dakota left Pearl Harbor on 16 October. On 26 October 1942, he participated in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. The South Dakota and her crew received a Navy Unit Commendation for the action. On the night of 14-15 November 1942, Graham was wounded during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, he served as a loader for a 40 mm anti-aircraft gun and was hit by shrapnel while taking a hand message to an officer. Though he received fragmentation wounds, he helped in rescue duty by aiding and pulling the wounded aboard ship to safety. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Medal, and he and his crewmates were awarded another Navy Unit Commendation. Graham's mother revealed his age after he attended his grandmother's funeral (he arrived the day after the funeral) in Texas without permission from the Navy, for which afterwards he spent three months in a brig in Texas (he was not released until after his sister threatened to contact the newspapers). Although he had tried to return to his ship, he was dishonorably discharged from the Navy on 1 April 1943, and his awards were subsequently confiscated. He then worked in a defence plant as a welder instead of going back to school. Graham joined the United States Marine Corps in 1948 at age 17, but his enlistment in the Marines also ended early when he fell from a pier and broke his back in 1951. In 1978, he was finally given an honorable discharge for his service in the Navy, and after writing to Congress and with the approval of President Jimmy Carter, all medals except his Purple Heart Medal were reinstated. His story came to public attention in 1988, when his story was told in the TV movie, Too Young the Hero. He was played by Rick Schroder. His Purple Heart Medal was finally reinstated, and presented to his widow, Mary, on 21 June 1994, nearly two years after his death from heart failure on 6 November 1992, aged 62, in Fort Worth, Texas. Link to Wikipedia biography