{"id":66262,"date":"2022-10-05T20:42:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T20:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/05\/how-a-12-year-old-tricked-the-navy-into-letting-him-fight-in-wwii\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:12:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:12:59","slug":"how-a-12-year-old-tricked-the-navy-into-letting-him-fight-in-wwii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/off-duty\/2022\/10\/05\/how-a-12-year-old-tricked-the-navy-into-letting-him-fight-in-wwii\/","title":{"rendered":"How a 12-year-old tricked the Navy into letting him fight in WWII"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1942, Calvin Graham was an 11-year-old living in an abusive situation that forced him and his brother into a Texas boarding home. It was there that he hatched a daring escape plan: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/the-boy-who-became-a-world-war-ii-veteran-at-13-years-old-168104583\/\" target=\"_blank\">Join the U.S. Navy<\/a> and fight Nazis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an effort to look older, Graham began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/this-12-year-old-boy-became-a-navy-hero-in-world-war-ii-2015-9\" target=\"_blank\">shaving his face<\/a> and practicing a deeper voice. But being a 5\u20322, 125-pound sixth-grader with razor burn hardly fooled anyone. It was forging his mother\u2019s signature for consent and lifting a notary stamp that ultimately sealed the deal on his enlistment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham simply told his mother that he was going to stay with relatives for a while, according to Business Insider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He did, however, run into trouble when a dentist realized Graham <a href=\"https:\/\/veteransbreakfastclub.org\/calvin-graham-the-youngest-american-to-serve-in-world-war-ii\/\" target=\"_blank\">still had baby teeth<\/a> \u2014 a tad uncharacteristic of a self-proclaimed 17-year-old. But Graham was persistent, and the flustered dentist waived him through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham was sworn into the Navy on Aug. 15, 1942, at 12 years old, making him the youngest person to enlist during World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After training, he was sent to serve in the Pacific as a gunner aboard the USS South Dakota. During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Graham took shrapnel to the face, and though wounded, still continued to help other sailors. For this, Graham was awarded the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He lost those awards, however, when his mother sold him out and revealed his age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Graham was originally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/the-boy-who-became-a-world-war-ii-veteran-at-13-years-old-168104583\/\" target=\"_blank\">thrown in the brig<\/a>, but got out when his sister threatened the Navy with bad press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe became known to headline-writers as the \u2018baby vet\u2019 after the Navy gave him a dishonorable discharge and revoked his disability benefits and his decorations,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1992\/11\/09\/obituaries\/calvin-graham-62-who-fought-in-war-as-a-12-year-old.html\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to his medals, the discharge cost him disability benefits, which would have helped following the combat injuries he sustained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 14, Graham married and had a child. By 17, he was newly divorced and decided to re-enlist, this time as a Marine. Unfortunately, a broken back, for which he received 20 percent disability, ended his military career once and for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Jimmy Carter later chose to return all of Graham\u2019s medals, save for the Purple Heart. But it wasn\u2019t until 1988 that President Ronald Reagan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/archives\/speech\/statement-signing-bill-relief-calvin-l-graham\" target=\"_blank\">signed a bill<\/a> restoring Graham\u2019s status and paying out the disability owed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have today approved H.R. 610, \u2018An Act for the relief of Calvin L. Graham.\u2019 Mr. Graham is a veteran of Navy and Marine Corps service who has honorably served his country,\u201d the bill reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSection 1 of the Act provides that, for purposes of service-connected disability compensation, the dental injuries that Mr. Graham incurred in the Battle of Guadalcanal will be considered to be a permanent service-connected disability incurred in the line of duty. Section 1 also provides for reimbursement of Mr. Graham for costs he incurred for the treatment of those injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ever the embodiment of \u201clive fast, die young,\u201d Graham passed away in 1992 of heart failure. He was 62.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His nephew, Dean Lowrey, visited him shortly before he died, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1994-06-17-9406170023-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Tribune<\/a>. It was during that visit that Graham expressed sadness that he hadn\u2019t had his Purple Heart restored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCalvin told me, \u2018You know I\u2019m not going to be here much longer, my old heart\u2019s fixing to play out on me,\u2019\u201d Lowrey told the Chicago Tribune. \u201cHe talked about his medals. He\u2019d gotten his Bronze Star and the others back, everything except the Purple Heart. He couldn\u2019t figure why they\u2019d held up that one. He said, \u2018Maybe they\u2019ll give me my Purple Heart after I\u2019m gone.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then-Navy Secretary John Dalton restored Graham\u2019s Purple Heart to his widow, Mary Graham, in 1994.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calvin Graham enlisted at 12 but was discharged when his real age was discovered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":105910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-observation-post","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,93,12,25,13,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3272],"class_list":["post-66262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"26I2YSYOORAXZHDTHDV7IYTFEY","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/2022\/10\/05\/how-a-12-year-old-tricked-the-navy-into-letting-him-fight-in-wwii\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"observation-post","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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