Framed Navy Cross certificate, Navy Cross medal, and citation presented to Alonzo A. Swann

Alonzo A. Swann Jr.

BiographyAlonzo A. Swann served on board the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) during World War II. He joined the crew on April 14, 1944 and was transferred off the ship on June 27, 1945. Swann, who was Black, was a steward's mate first class, STM1, one of the few ratings available to Black sailors in a segregated U.S. Navy.

A group of steward’s mates on Intrepid, including Swann, received gunnery training. These sailors manned a position called Gun Tub 10, which held six 20mm guns. On October 29, 1944, a Japanese kamikaze pilot barreled toward Gun Tub 10. The men stayed at their guns, shooting at the incoming airplane. The crash engulfed the gun tub in flames, killing 10 men and wounding 10 others.

Six of the gunners received the Bronze Star for valor. Swann maintained that they had been promised a higher honor, the Navy Cross, but they instead received the lesser award due to discrimination. Decades later, Swann petitioned the Navy for his Navy Cross. Documents from the 1940s supported Swann’s assertion that the award had indeed been downgraded. A judge ruled in Swann's favor. He finally received the Navy Cross in a ceremony at the Intrepid Museum in 1993.

Swann died in 2007.

Person TypeIndividual