Happy Birthday Henry Breault (1900–1941)! (October 14)
Happy Birthday Henry Breault (1900–1941)
Today we commemorate the birthday of Henry Breault, born on 14 October 1900 in Putnam, Connecticut is a submairner whose courage, loyalty, and devotion to duty have become defining elements of the Silent Service’s identity.
Over the past year, Breault’s legacy has been formally restored to the public memory of both his hometown and his home state. The Town of Putnam established Henry Breault Day, ensuring that the community where he was born recognizes the extraordinary heroism of its native son. Building on that foundation, the State of Connecticut passed SB 458, designating March 8 the date Breault received the Medal of Honor as Henry Breault Day statewide.
For the first time, Breault’s story is honored not only locally, but across the entire state.
These recognitions commemorate a moment of instinctive courage that remains unparalleled in U.S. submarine history. On 28 October 1923, when USS O‑5 sank in the Panama Canal after colliding with the steamship Abangarez, Breault reached topside and could have escaped. Instead, he returned below to rescue Chief Electrician’s Mate Lawrence Brown, closing the hatch on himself as the bow went under. “Instead of jumping overboard to save his own life, he returned to the torpedo room to the rescue of a shipmate whom he knew was trapped in the boat.” Breault and Brown survived 31 hours trapped in the torpedo room until salvors raised the submarine’s bow and freed them.
For this act of heroism and devotion to duty, Breault received the Medal of Honor from President Calvin Coolidge on 8 March 1924, becoming the first submariner (and still the only enlisted submariner) to receive the Medal of Honor for actions aboard a U.S. submarine.
On his birthday, we honor not only the man, but the example he set: courage without hesitation, loyalty without condition, and duty carried out at the risk of one’s own life. I still firmly believe that a submarine named in his honor would be an excellent way to reinforce the warrior ethos.
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