World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. He was issued the award for his actions as a US Navy ensign assigned to the Navy destroyer USS Stewart (DD-13) on April 17, 1918, at Quiberon Bay, France. Following the war, he became an officer in the US Merchant Marine. In January 1926, while serving as a Fourth Mate of the US passenger liner President Roosevelt, he participated in the rescue of the crew of the British freighter Antinoe, which was breaking up in the North Atlantic, and was awarded the King George V Gallantry at Sea Medal by the British Government. During World War II, as master of a merchant ship, he voyaged to Murmansk, Russia, the Persian Gulf, and Western Europe, and took part in the June 6, 1944 D-Day Landings at Normandy. After his Merchant Marine service, he relocated to Boulder, Colorado and operated a motel. He died at the age of 66. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H, on 17 April 1918. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Frank M. Upton, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself. Fully realizing the danger from continual explosion of similar powder boxes in the vicinity, he risked his life to save the life of this man."
World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. He was issued the award for his actions as a US Navy ensign assigned to the Navy destroyer USS Stewart (DD-13) on April 17, 1918, at Quiberon Bay, France. Following the war, he became an officer in the US Merchant Marine. In January 1926, while serving as a Fourth Mate of the US passenger liner President Roosevelt, he participated in the rescue of the crew of the British freighter Antinoe, which was breaking up in the North Atlantic, and was awarded the King George V Gallantry at Sea Medal by the British Government. During World War II, as master of a merchant ship, he voyaged to Murmansk, Russia, the Persian Gulf, and Western Europe, and took part in the June 6, 1944 D-Day Landings at Normandy. After his Merchant Marine service, he relocated to Boulder, Colorado and operated a motel. He died at the age of 66. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H, on 17 April 1918. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Frank M. Upton, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself. Fully realizing the danger from continual explosion of similar powder boxes in the vicinity, he risked his life to save the life of this man."
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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