Navy Cross

To sailors on the aircraft carrier Intrepid, kamikaze attacks were shocking and terrifying. Gunners rushed to shoot down enemy aircraft before they struck the ship. When kamikazes hit their target, the results were devastating. Afterward, crew members often took fragments of the wrecked Japanese airplane as reminders of these astonishing attacks.

Some Intrepid sailors were decorated for their bravery in defending the ship from kamikazes. In 1944, a group of black gunners was recommended for the Navy Cross, an award for extraordinary heroism, for firing at a kamikaze as it crashed into their position on October 29, 1944. Instead, they received the Bronze Star, a lesser award. Alonzo A. Swann Jr. contended that the U.S. Navy discriminated against the sailors and pressed them for the higher recognition that they deserved. Beginning in the 1990s, the U.S. Navy awarded the Navy Cross to Swann and other survivors: James Dockery, Que Gant, Robert Jones and Eugene Smith Jr. In addition, the Navy posthumously awarded the Navy Cross shown here to Alfonso Chavarrias, the gunner’s mate who oversaw the gun crew.