Peter Tomich

Petar Herceg 'Tonić' (later anglicized as Peter Tomich; June 3, 1893 – December 7, 1941) was a United States Navy sailor of Herzegovinian Croat descent who received the United States military's highest award, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II.

Biography Tomich was an ethnic Croat from Herzegovina born as Petar Herceg (family nickname 'Tonić') in Prolog near Ljubuški, under Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He immigrated to the United States in 1913 and joined the US Army in 1917.

World War I Tomich served in the US Army during World War I and enlisted in the US Navy in 1919, where he initially served on the destroyer .

Awards and honors

Medal of Honor Purple HeartNavy Good Conduct MedalWorld War I Victory MedalAmerican Defense Service Medal with Fleet claspAsiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Campaign starWorld War II Victory Medal

Medal of Honor citation For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession and extraordinary courage and disregard of his own safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor by the Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Despite realizing that the ship was capsizing as a result of enemy bombing and torpedoing, Tomich remained at his post in the engineering plant of the U.S.S. Utah until he saw that all boilers were secured and all fireroom personnel had left their stations, and by so doing, lost his own life."

Legacy The destroyer escort , 1943–1974, was named in honor of Chief Watertender Tomich. The United States Navy Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, RI is named Tomich Hall in honor of Chief Watertender Tomich. The Steam Propulsion Training Facility at Service School Command Great Lakes is named in honor of Chief Watertender Tomich. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Headquarters Conference Room in Washington, D.C., is named the Peter Tomich Conference Center.