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Contact Info
Home Town Hackettstown, New Jersey
Last Address Silver Spring, Maryland
Date of Passing Apr 06, 1996
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Note: Because this profile is done in the USAF site, some of 2nd Lt (USAAC), VAdm (USN) Bulkeley's ribbons are not correct as worn on his Navy uniform. He was also awarded the Philippine Distinguished Conduct Star that is not shown on his ribbon rack.
In 1942 he took General Douglas MacArthur, his family, and his staff on PT-41 out of Corregidor and safely through the Japanese fleet on their way to Australia.
He is buried in Arlington and also memorialized in Union Cemetery, Hackettstown, NJ and the Texas State Cemetery, Austin, TX.
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Commander John Duncan Bulkeley, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism, distinguished service, and conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty as extraordinary heroism as Commanding Officer, Motor Torpedo Boat THIRTY-FOUR (PT-34), Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron THREE (MTB-3), in Philippine waters during the period 7 December 1941 to 10 April 1942. The remarkable achievement of Lieutenant Commander Bulkeley's command in damaging or destroying a notable number of Japanese enemy planes, surface combatant and merchant ships, and in dispersing landing parties and land-based enemy forces during the four months and eight days of operation without benefit of repairs, overhaul, or maintenance facilities for his squadron, is believed to be without precedent in this type of warfare. His dynamic forcefulness and daring in offensive action, his brilliantly planned and skillfully executed attacks, supplemented by a unique resourcefulness and ingenuity, characterize him as an outstanding leader of men and a gallant and intrepid seaman. These qualities coupled with a complete disregard for his own personal safety reflect great credit upon him and the Naval Service.
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
21 Named Campaigns were recognized in the Asiatic Pacific Theater with Battle Streamers and Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medals.
