Calvin Graham
Following his father’s death and mother’s remarriage, Calvin Leon Graham (1930 – 1992) found himself one of seven children living with an abusive stepfather in Houston. At age 11, he moved out with an older brother, and supported himself by delivering newspapers and telegrams on the weekends and outside school hours. The following year, in 1942, he told his mother he was going to visit relatives, but went to a recruiting office instead, and lying about his age, enlisted in the US Navy at age 12. He became the youngest American serviceman during WWII, as well as the youngest one decorated for heroism during that conflict.
After completing boot camp in San Diego, Calvin was sent to Pearl Harbor. There, he was assigned to the recently commissioned battleship USS South Dakota, whose crew he joined as a loader for a 40mm antiaircraft gun in September of 1942. The following month, he served the guns during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, for which the South Dakota and her crew received a Navy commendation.
During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of November 14-15, 1942, the South Dakota sustained significant damage after it came under fire from at least three Japanese ships, and was struck 26 times. Calvin was hit by shrapnel, but ignored it to take part in rescue operations and help pull other more seriously injured crewmen to safety. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his conduct that day, and a Purple Heart for his wounds in action.
The battleship sailed to New York City for repairs, and while it was docked, Calvin went AWOL to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Texas. That was when his mother discovered where her 12-year-old son had been all that time. She told the Navy, but incredibly, rather than immediately discharge him, they sent the 12-year-old to the brig as punishment for going AWOL. It was only after his sister threatened to go public that the Navy let the child go, giving him a dishonorable discharge and confiscating his awards.
It was not until 1977, after writing to Congress and with the approval of President Jimmy Carter, that Calvin’s awards were restored, with the exception of the Purple Heart, for some reason. His dishonorable discharge from the Navy was also changed to honorable. In 1988, his story was told in a TV movie, Too Young a Hero, in which the role of Calvin was played by Rick Schroeder.