By Katie Lange
Navy Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class George Robert Cholister witnessed the blast and tried to cease the state of affairs from getting worse. He misplaced his life within the try, and he later acquired the Medal of Honor for his heroics.
Cholister was born on Dec. 18, 1898, in Camden, New Jersey, to Harold and Hannah Cholister. He had a sister and three brothers, two of whom additionally served within the Navy. One in all them, Walter, was killed throughout World Warfare I.
George Cholister went to Ellisburg College in Delaware Township, New Jersey, earlier than enlisting within the Navy in April 1916, based on American Legion Publish 372.
Throughout World Warfare I, he served on a submarine within the North Sea earlier than transferring to the USS Fanning, a destroyer that was credited with sinking three German U-boats. Members of American Legion Publish 372 stated he additionally served for a number of years in China and Japan.
Cholister was on his third enlistment when the tragedy occurred.
On Oct. 20, 1924, Cholister was serving on the USS Trenton, a brand new gentle cruiser that was about 40 miles off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia. The Trenton was doing gunnery drills, getting ready to fireside trial set up pictures from two 6-inch weapons on the ship’s ahead twin mount.
Throughout that preparation, two fees of powder ignited and exploded, trapping 20 crew members within the twin mount. In line with the Naval Historical past and Heritage Command, “the explosion erupted with such drive that it thrust open the rear metal door and blew 5 males overboard,” one among whom drowned.
Because it was occurring, Cholister noticed that the cost of powder from the left gun had ignited. With none concern for himself, he jumped at it and tried to place it within the ship’s immersion tank. Nonetheless, the cost burst into flames on the best way, igniting the second cost from the precise gun earlier than he might get there.
Cholister was overcome by the smoke and fell unconscious. He died the following day, his Medal of Honor quotation stated.
In line with a 1932 article within the Camden, New Jersey, Courier Publish newspaper, a naval inquiry decided the explosion was brought on by friction ensuing from contact between the gun and hoisting equipment.
4 members of the gun crew died instantly from the explosion. Ten others later succumbed to smoke inhalation and different wounds, whereas six extra had been severely injured.
Eight years later, officers introduced they might bestow Cholister with the Medal of Honor for his try to avoid wasting different USS Trenton sailors. On Feb. 3, 1933, his father, Harry, acquired the medal on his behalf. Cholister additionally acquired the Navy Cross.
Ensign Henry Clay Drexler, a shipmate who served alongside Cholister on the USS Trenton, additionally misplaced his life in an effort to extinguish the hearth. He, too, posthumously acquired the Medal of Honor.
Cholister is buried in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, at Colestown Cemetery, the place his father spent years working because the superintendent.
VFW Publish 3247 in Cherry Hill was named for Cholister after his demise. His identify can also be inscribed on a bronze scroll at a memorial for Camden County veterans in Pennsauken, New Jersey.
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