Abraham DeSomer

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Abraham DeSomer
29 December 1884 – 31 August 1974
Gunner Abraham DeSomer, 1 October 1916
Place of birth	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Allegiance	United States Navy
Rank	Lieutenant Commander
Battles/wars	United States occupation of Veracruz, 1914
Awards	Medal of Honor

Abraham DeSomer (29 December 1884 – 31 August 1974) was an enlisted man and later an officer in the United States Navy. He received America's highest military decoration - the Medal of Honor - for actions during the American intervention at Veracruz, Mexico.

[edit] Biography

Abraham DeSomer was born on 29 December 1884 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the early 1900s, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy from that state. Following his initial sea duty on board the gunboat Yorktown, DeSomer transferred to the monitor Monadnock, which served on the Asiatic Station, and became a Gunner's Mate. From 1907 to 1911, he was assigned to the battleship Nebraska. DeSomer was promoted to Chief Petty Officer in 1910. A year later, he reported to the battleship Utah. While serving in that ship on 21-22 April 1914, during the intervention at Veracruz, Mexico, his "extraordinary herosim in the line of his profession" was recognized by the award of the Medal of Honor.

In February 1915 DeSomer was promoted to the Warrant Officer rank of Gunner. During the next four years he served in the transport Hancock, armored cruiser Montana and battleship Minnesota. He was temporarily commissioned as an Ensign in August 1917 and attained the rank of Lieutenant in September 1918. In the Spring of 1919, DeSomer transferred to Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. He was made a permanent Lieutenant in August 1920 and, a year later, reported to the newly commissioned battleship California. DeSomer began two more years of training duty at Great Lakes in the summer of 1925, then was assigned to the destroyer tender Dobbin and the aircraft carrier Lexington before transferring in November 1930 to Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Following more than thirty years of continuous service as an enlisted man and an officer, Lieutenant DeSomer retired in January 1932. He returned to active duty in the summer of 1940, after the fall of France prompted a massive expansion of America's defenses. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander on the retired list in February 1942, he remained in active status through the war years. Abraham DeSomer died on 31 August 1974 and is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California.