The bravest of the brave are awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration by the U.S. government.

It is bestowed by the U.S. Congress to members of the armed forces who distinguish themselves through “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty” while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.

For their actions during the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, which brought the U.S. into World War II, 16 men received the Medal of Honor, 11 of them posthumously. All were in the Navy, except for one Marine, who died at a naval air station. Two examples of extraordinary valor follow, according to their citations on the Congressional Medal of Honor Society website (cmohs.org).

Donald Kirby Ross, a Navy chief machinist, was cited for extraordinary courage and disregard of his own life. “When his station in the forward dynamo room of the USS Nevada became almost untenable due to smoke, steam, and heat, machinist Ross forced his men to leave that station and performed all the duties himself until blinded and unconscious.

“Upon being rescued and resuscitated, he returned and secured the forward dynamo room and proceeded to the after dynamo room where he was later again rendered unconscious by exhaustion. Again recovering consciousness he returned to his station where he remained until directed to abandon it.”

Jackson Charles Pharris, a Navy lieutenant on the USS California, was in charge of the ordnance repair party on the third deck when the first Japanese torpedo struck almost directly under his station. He was stunned and severely injured by the concussion, which hurled him to the overhead and back to the deck.

The citation said, “He acted on his own initiative to set up a hand-supply ammunition train for the antiaircraft guns. With water and oil rushing in from the port bulkhead, many of the crew members overcome by oil fumes, and the ship without power and listing heavily to port as a result of a second torpedo hit, Lt. Pharris ordered the ship fitters to counter-flood.

“Twice rendered unconscious by the … fumes and handicapped by his painful injuries, he persisted in his desperate efforts to speed up the supply of ammunition and at the same time repeatedly risked his life to enter flooding compartments and drag to safety unconscious shipmates who were gradually being submerged in oil. By his inspiring leadership, his valiant efforts and his extreme loyalty to his ship and her crew, he saved many of his shipmates from death and was largely responsible for keeping the California in action during the attack,” the citation read.