August Holtz was a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

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Biography

Holtz was born on February 12, 1871, in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. He joined the Navy from that city and by September 8, 1910, was serving as a chief

Chief Petty Officer

A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...

 watertender

Watertender

A watertender is a crewman aboard a steam-powered ship who is responsible for tending to the fires and boilers in the ship's engine room.In the United States Navy, "watertender" was a petty officer rating which existed from 1884 to 1948. Watertenders held a paygrade equivalent to today's petty...

 on the . On that day, while the North Dakota was conducting tests using oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 as fuel, an explosion occurred, killing three sailors and endangering the ship. In the engine room

Engine room

On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...

, pieces of hot coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 and coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 floated in waist-high hot water, oil was aflame above one of the boiler

Boiler

A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...

s, and the entire room was filled with smoke, steam, and fumes. Despite these dangers, Holtz and five other men of the ship's engineering department entered the engine room to haul the boiler fires and perform other tasks necessary to prevent a boiler explosion

Boiler explosion

A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. As seen today, boiler explosions are of two kinds. One kind is over-pressure in the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. The second kind is explosion in the furnace. Boiler explosions of pressure parts are particularly associated...

. After ensuring the safety of the ship, they then searched for and removed the bodies of the three sailors killed in the initial explosion.

For these actions, Holtz and the five other men were awarded the Medal of Honor a month later, on October 4. The others were Chief Machinist's Mate Thomas Stanton, Chief Machinist's Mate Karl Westa

Karl Westa

-External links:...

, Chief Watertender Patrick Reid, Machinist's Mate First Class Charles C. Roberts

Charles Church Roberts

-External links:...

, and Watertender Harry Lipscomb

Harry Lipscomb

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Holtz left the Navy while still a chief watertender. He died at age 67 and was buried at Long Island National Cemetery

Long Island National Cemetery

Long Island National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Suffolk County, New York. Its mailing address is Farmingdale. It is within the CDPS of Wyandanch, in the Town of Babylon, and Melville in the Town of Huntington...

 in Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk County, New York

Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...

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Medal of Honor citation

Holtz's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. North Dakota, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board that vessel, 8 September 1910.

See also

• List of Medal of Honor recipients during peacetime