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What does "At his first knowledge of the attack, he rushed to the bridge of USS Arizona, his flagship, and "courageously discharged his duties as Senior Officer Present Afloat until the Arizona blew up from a magazine explosion and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss of his life."" actually mean? And what strange langauage is it in? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.197.15.138 (talk) 09:47, 28 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Don't be confused. It basically says "He went to his duty station and got killed there." The guy was a Rear Admiral in 1945, which meant he came from an incredibly well connected old-money East Coast family and had many powerful friends in Annapolis, Congress and the War Department. He also happened to have the good fortune to get killed on the one ship that blew up catastrophically on camera and ended up becoming the enduring national symbol for the attack. They also gave the MOH the Captain of the Arizona, Franklin van Valkenburgh, another well-connected Annapolis man who did nothing but die on the bridge. In a nutshell, they got the Medal of Honor as a kneejerk political gesture from a shocked and hysterically emotional nation. The other 1,175 peons got a Purple Heart and an empty, weighted casket for their families. Kind of ironic when you consider that post-war analysts concluded that the most likely explanation for the magazine explosion was improperly stored black powder or an unsecured hatch, both of which could only have taken place on Valkenburgh and Kidd's watch. 67.246.15.91 (talk) 22:44, 31 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]
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