Hingham’s Only Medal of Honor Recipient to be Honored Friday

Seaman Herbert Lewis Foss will be honored Friday afternoon in front of his grave at the Fort Hill Cemetery in Hingham.  The town holds an annual memorial for their only Congressional Medal of Honor winner on his birthday, Oct. 12.

For his heroic act of bravery under enemy fire, Foss was awarded his country's highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1899. He also received the Admiral Sampson Navy Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the Service Medal before passing away in 1937 at the age of 66.

Foss served in the US Navy and fought in the Spanish American War. During the war, in May of 1898, Foss and his shipmates snared the communications cable off the coast of northwest Cuba.  With great difficulty while under intense enemy fire the men pulled the cable up over the bow of their ship and proceeded to sever it.  Since many of his shipmates were wounded or killed in the process, Foss finished the job by cutting the cable with a hacksaw and was later honored for his acts of braveness.

Foss has been honored in Hingham for the past six years thanks to  Michael Cunningham, the former Hingham Veterans’ services director . Cunningham decided that the town should hold a Memorial Celebration each year on the anniversary of Foss’s birthday, October 12, 1871.

“It’s just something I think we should be doing,” said Cunningham at last year’s  service. “This is something that should have been done a long  time ago."

While every Medal of Honor winner in the neighboring town of Weymouth has a school named after them, Foss doesn’t even have a memorial in Hingham.  In the last year, the town has set up a committee which is in the process of choosing a location for a memorial for the Hingham war hero.

At last year’s service both State Senator  Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) and State Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham) spoke in favor of building a memorial for Foss.

 “It is long overdue to my home town of Hingham to recognize Seaman Foss and name a town structure in his honor,” Bradley said while standing in front of the war hero’s grave.

Friday’s ceremony begins at 3:00 p.m. at the Fort Hill Cemetery and Harriet Kirkpatrick, granddaughter, of Foss will be present.

Hingham Veterans’ Service   Director Keith Jermyn plans to place a wreath in front of his grave,members of the Old Colony Lodge, A.F & A.M.  are expected to conduct a ritual and veterans will honor him with a three volley salute.

To see photos from last year’s  ceremony, click HERE.