Two heroic men were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions on this day in 1942 and 1945, respectively.
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Milton Ernest Ricketts of Baltimore, Maryland was in charge of a damage control party on board the USS Yorktown on May 8, 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea. When a Japanese bomb exploded among his group, he successfully undertook fire-fighting measures despite receiving mortal wounds.
For his actions on May 8, 1942, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Ricketts was buried at sea and his name appears on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
U.S. Army Private First Class Anthony L. Krotiak of Chicago, Illinois was serving in Company I, 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division in Luzon, the Philippines. On May 8, 1945, he smothered the blast of a Japanese-thrown grenade with his body, sacrificing his life to protect those around him. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. Krotiak was 29 years old at the time of his death and is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois.