George Ham Cannon was born November 5, 1915, in Webster Groves, Missouri to Benjamin and Estelle Cannon. The 1930 census lists Cannon as the 2nd of three children.

The family later moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Cannon graduated from Southeastern High School. He also attended the Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, prior to entering the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While in attendance at that university he was a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in June 1938.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Engineer Reserve, U.S. Army, during his last year at the University of Michigan. Upon graduation he resigned to accept a commission as second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. Commissioned on June 25, 1938, he was ordered to duty on July 5, 1938, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to await assignment to the next class of Basic School. He began studies on July18th that year.

His first tour of duty as a U.S. Marine was as a "sea soldier" aboard the USS Boise, following the completion of his schooling May 20, 1939. He was assigned to the Post Service Battalion at the Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, on July 10, 1940, and two weeks later entered the Base Defense Weapons Course at the Marine Corps Schools.

Ordered to the Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California, in December 1940, he joined Battery H, 2d Defense Battalion on February 16, 1941. In March 1941, the battery joined the 6th Defense Battalion and in July the unit sailed for Pearl Harbor. In August 1941, he was promoted to first lieutenant with the rank retroactive to June 25, 1941. On September 7, 1941, Cannon reported to Midway Island as a platoon leader and member of the Battalion Coding Board.

As part of their December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese also sent ships to attack Midway and Wake Islands. This was to prevent them from attacking the main Japanese force as they left the Hawaiian Islands. At about 9:30 p.m. on December 7, 1941, two Japanese ships began shelling Midway. The shelling hit Cannon’s Command Post, disrupting communications and wounding two Marines.

Cannon was mortally wounded almost immediately but refused to leave his post because he wanted to ensure communications were reestablished and his wounded men evacuated. Only after communications were restored did Cannon allow himself to be evacuated though his citation notes that he was ‘forcibly’ removed. He died just after 10:00 p.m. from loss of blood.

Cannon’s award of the Medal of Honor was announced on March 15, 1942. He was the only December 7, 1941 Marine Medal of Honor recipient and was the only recipient whose MOH actions were not on Oahu. As were many of the early awards of the Medal of Honor during WWII, Cannon’s Medal appears to have been mailed to his mother as she wrote a letter to President Roosevelt on March 22, 1942, thanking him for the Medal.

Cannon’s citation reads: For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage, and disregard of his own condition during the bombardment of Sand Island, Midway Islands, by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. First Lt. Cannon, Battery Commander of Battery H, 6th Defense Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, U.S. Marine Corps, was at his command post when he was mortally wounded by enemy shellfire. He refused to be evacuated from his post until after his men who had been wounded by the same shell were evacuated, and directed the reorganization of his command post until forcibly removed. As a result of his utter disregard of his own condition he died from loss of blood.

In 1943, the Navy named a Destroyer Escort in honor of Cannon, the USS Cannon (DE 99). The ship was sponsored by his mother and launched at the Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware, on May 25, 1943. The USS Cannon was decommissioned and transferred to Brazil on December 19, 1944.

Cannon was initially buried in Halawa Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii but was later reinterred at his mother's request to the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu in 1947.

In May 2000, The Cannon family donated his Medal of Honor to Culver Military Academy, his alma matter.

Cannon is also memorialized at Glen Cove Cemetery, Knightstown, Indiana with an In Memory Of headstone near his parents graves.

Sources and suggested reading for Cannon Biography:

54th Annual Reunion Army and Navy Legion of Valor, New York, 1944 (contains short biographies of both posthumous and living recipients)

Pearl Harbor’s Hidden Heroes: The 18 Medals of Honor Awarded for Bravery in the Hawaiian Islands During World War II: 1941, 1942, and 1945, Colonel Charles A. Jones, USMCR, Retired, CreateSpace, 2017.

Navy history of USS Cannon (DE-99)

USMC biography for George H. Cannon

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It may be of some interest to Marines traveling through northern Indiana, but Lt. Cannon's Medal of Honor and officer's sword are on display at his high school alma mater, Culver Military Academy, Culver, IN. There is a rather nice display honoring the 5 MOH recipient's of Culver (not bad for a high school). While working there as a TAC officer for 9 years, I had the distinct honor and pleasure to participate in the ceremony where the Cannon family permanently loaned the Medal to the Academies for display.

I got to carry the medal from the chapel to the hall of the display and place it for viewing. It was my pleasure to take care of the display case until I left CMA in '05. It was an honor I'll never forget.

MSgt George Cater, USMC Ret.

Cannon, George Ham, 1stLt