Calvin Graham wanted to serve his country after Pearl Harbor. The problem was he was only 12. However, the recruiter either did not have a good eye for age or didn’t care, so with the help of forging his mother’s signature, Calvin became the youngest serviceman in the U.S. military in WWII. He was assigned to the USS South Dakota, a battleship that served in the Pacific. In the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, he was working an anti-aircraft gun when he was wounded by shrapnel. After being patched up, he helped with the wounded. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Not long after that, his mother saw him in a newsreel and thus discovered what had happened to her son. She contacted the Navy and Calvin was arrested and thrown in a military prison. His sister threatened to go to the newspapers, so the Navy let him out after three months and dishonorably discharged him. The Navy refused to return his medals. He held various jobs until he was able to reenlist in the Marines at age 17. In 1951, he broke his back in a fall from a pier and his military career was over. The military refused to grant him medical benefits until letters to Congress and Pres. Carter resulted in him getting an honorable discharge, but no benefits in 1978. In 1988, the movie “Too Young the Hero” appeared on TV and not long after, Congress and Pres. Reagan gave him full disability benefits. He was not given his Purple Heart until two years after his death.
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