Jesse Whitfield Covington

Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy

Medal of Honor Recipient

World War I

Chief Petty Officer Jesse Whitfield Covington (16 September 1889 - 21 November 1966) was a U.S. Navy sailor who received the U.S. military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his heroic actions during World War I.

Jesse Whitfield Covington was born on 16 September 1889 in Egypt, TN. After enlisting in the U.S. Navy he was sent to France to fight in World War I. His heroic action while at sea aboard the USS Stewart on 17 April 1918, earned him the Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Ship's Cook Third Class, U.S. Navy.

Place and date: At sea aboard the USS Stewart, 17 April 1918.

Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Jesse W. Covington, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself, fully realizing that similar powder boxes in the vicinity were continually exploding and that he was thereby risking his life in saving the life of this man.

Death and Burial

Chief Petty Officer Jesse Whitfield Covington died on 21 November 1966. He is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Portsmouth, VA.