Ken Harbaugh tells the stories of service members who have distinguished themselves through an act of valor. These stories feature recipients from the Civil War to present day, including a few who were originally overlooked for the medal.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Albert Leroy David served in World War II as an assistant engineering and electrical officer on the USS Pillsbury.
On June 4th, 1944, the Pillsbury’s hunter-killer group located a German U-boat 150 miles off the coast of West Africa. They attacked the submarine with depth charges, seriously damaging the ship and forcing the enemy to surface. As they abandoned ship, the German crew rigged demolition charges and cut holes in the hull, hoping to sink the U-boat to prevent their enemies from recovering any sensitive information.
Facing enemy fire, an erratically moving vessel, and the possibility of explosion at any minute, LTJG David led a group of nine men onto the enemy U-boat. They quickly disarmed all the explosives and stopped the ship's flooding, allowing it to be recovered and hauled to the U.S..
On board, they recovered classified materials, charts, codebooks and enigma decoding machines. This became crucial information to the U.S., allowing allies to break German map code to locate U-boats, as well as decode German submarine radio messages in real time. The technology and advanced systems recovered on the ship also provided valuable information to the U.S.
As a result of this success David was promoted to Lieutenant and recommended for the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could receive it. On September 17th, 1945, just two months before the ceremony, he died of a heart attack.
On November 9th, 1945 Lieutenant Albert Leroy David was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Medal was presented to his wife, and it now sits on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, along with U-505.
Welcome to the Medal of Honor podcast, brought to you in partnership with the National Medal of Honor Museum. I’m Ken Harbaugh. In each episode, we’ll learn about a different service member who has distinguished him or herself through an act of valor.
Albert Leroy David was born on July 18th, 1902 in Maryville, Missouri. At 17 years old, he enlisted in the Navy. For the next two decades, David served on various ships throughout the fleet, eventually being placed on fleet reserve in 1939. However, Germany invaded Poland just a month later, and he was recalled to active duty.
David spent the next few years stateside, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. In May of 1943 he was assigned to help outfit and serve on the USS Pillsbury, a destroyer that was tasked with escorting Atlantic ocean convoys into Morocco. German U-Boats were very good at picking off isolated ships, so having a ship like the Pillsbury nearby made it more difficult for them to attack. The Pillsbury was also a part of a hunter-killer group, the name for a task force of warships that hunted enemy submarines.
On June 4th, 1944, the Pillsbury’s hunter-killer group located U-505, a German U-boat 150 miles off the coast of West Africa. They dropped depth charges, damaging the sub’s rudder and causing parts of the ship to begin flooding. Forced to resurface, the Germans began to abandon ship. Their sub held advanced technology and information that the allies could use against them, so protocol was to cut holes in the ship and set demolition charges to make sure it couldn’t be recovered by the allies. Hunter-killer group of course wanted to do anything they could to save the sub and retrieve the intel within. David led a group of nine men from the USS Pillsbury to board the ship, knowing full well that it could sink or explode at any moment. Despite enemy fire, and the fact that the U-boat was circling erratically, the group made it on board and into the hatch. They descended cautiously, weary of any Germans who were still on board. Once they realized the sub was deserted, they got to work, disarming explosives and stopping the flooding. Thanks to their quick work, the team was able to keep U-505 afloat, eventually allowing it to be towed to the U.S.. On board, they recovered classified materials, charts, codebooks and enigma decoding machines. This became crucial information to the U.S., allowing allies to break German codes to locate U-boats, as well as decode German submarine radio messages in real time. The technology and advanced systems recovered on the ship also provided valuable information to the U.S.
As a result of this success David was promoted to Lieutenant and recommended for the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, he passed away before he could receive it. On September 17th, 1945, just two months before the ceremony, he died of a heart attack.
On November 9th, 1945 Lieutenant Albert Leroy David was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The Medal was presented to his wife, and it now sits on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, along with U-505. The sub is only one of two type IXC U-boats in existence.
The Medal of Honor podcast is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.
Nathan Corson is our executive producer and mixing engineer, Declan Rohrs is our associate producer, scriptwriter, and recording engineer, and I’m Ken Harbaugh.
We are proud to support the National Medal of Honor Museum. To learn more, and to support their mission, go to mohmuseum.org. Thanks for listening.
