b. 1848 Ireland. d. 05/03/1915 Brooklyn, New York.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 07/02/1882 Washington Navy Dockyard.
Born in 1848 in Ireland, Cramen immigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from Massachusetts. By February 7, 1882, he was serving as a boatswain’s mate on the training ship USS Portsmouth. On that day, while Portsmouth was at the Washington Navy Yard, he and another sailor, Seaman Henry C. Courtney, jumped overboard and rescued Jack-of-the-Dust Charles Taliaferro from drowning. For this action, both Cramen and Courtney were awarded the Medal of Honor two and a half years later, on October 18, 1884. When he died in 1915, he was buried under the name Thomas Crimmins.
MOH CITATION:
On board the U.S.S. Portsmouth, Washington Navy Yard, 7 February 1882. Jumping overboard from that vessel, Cramen rescued Charles Taliaferro, jack-of-the-dust, from drowning.
BURIAL LOCATION: HOLY CROSS CEMETERY, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.
SECTION ST GEORGE, ROW 5, PLOT 43
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
