Thomas J. Ryan, Jr. – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

Thomas John Ryan was a 1921 graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

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United States Naval Academy Photo

He earned the Medal of Honor on September 1, 1923 in Yokohama, Japan. He was awarded the Medal in a White House ceremony by President Calvin Coolidge. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 5, 1901.

He died on January 28, 1970, following a long military career, and was buried in Section 34 of Arlington National Cemetery.


RYAN, THOMAS JOHN

Rank and organization: Ensign, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Yokohama, Japan, 1  September 1923. Entered service at: Louisiana. Born: 5 August 1901, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Citation:

For heroism in effecting the rescue of a woman from the burning Grand Hotel, Yokohama, Japan, on 1 September 1923. Following the earthquake and fire which occurred in Yokohama on 1 September, Ens. Ryan, with complete disregard for his own life, extricated a woman from the Grand Hotel, thus saving her life. His heroic conduct upon this occasion reflects the greatest credit on himself and on the U.S. Navy, of which he is a part. (Medal presented by President Coolidge at the White House on 15 March 1924.)

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President Coolidge decorating Lieutenant Thomas J. Ryan with the Congressional Medal of Honor
United States Navy Photo

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