Thomas Cramen


Thomas Cramen was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Biography

Born in 1848 in Ireland, Cremen immigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from Massachusetts. By February 7, 1882, he was serving as a boatswain's mate on the training ship. On that day, while Portsmouth was at the Washington Navy Yard, he and another sailor, Seaman Henry C. Courtney, jumped overboard and rescued Jack-of-the-Dust Charles Taliaferro from drowning. For this action, both Cremen and Courtney were awarded the Medal of Honor two and a half years later, on October 18, 1884.
Cremen’s official Medal of Honor citation reads:
On board the U.S.S. Portsmouth, Washington Navy Yard, 7 February 1882. Jumping overboard from that vessel, Cramen rescued Charles Taliaferro, jack-of-the-dust, from drowning.