Robert Raymond Scott

Machinist's Mate First Class, U.S. Navy

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War II

Machinist's Mate First Class Robert Raymond Scott (13 July 1915 - 7 December 1941) was a U.S. Navy sailor who was posthumously awarded the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Robert Raymond Scott was born in Massillon, OH, on 13 July 1915 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 18 April 1938. Machinist's Mate First Class Scott was assigned to USS California when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The compartment containing the air compressor to which Scott was assigned as his battle station was flooded as a result of a torpedo hit. The remainder of the personnel evacuated the space, but Scott refused to leave, saying words to the effect that "This is my station and I will stay and give them air as long as the guns are going." He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Machinist's Mate First Class, U.S. Navy.

Citation: For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. The compartment, in the USS California, in which the air compressor, to which Scott was assigned as his battle station, was flooded as the result of a torpedo hit. The remainder of the personnel evacuated that compartment but Scott refused to leave, saying words to the effect "This is my station and I will stay and give them air as long as the guns are going.''

Honors

In 1943, the destroyer escort USS Scott (DE-214) was named in his honor.

Scott was a former student at Ohio State University where the Scott House dormitory is named in his honor.

Death and Burial

Machinist's Mate First Class Robert Raymond Scott was killed in action on 7 December 1941. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, in Section 34, Grave 3939, Map grid 15/16 W/X.