Born in Harris, Missouri on December 11, 1920, John Charles England [A][3] was first raised in Oklahoma City and moved to Alhambra, California in his youth.

[2][1][6][7] Ensign England was next assigned duty under instruction at the Naval Radio School, Connecticut, before joining USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor in September.

[1] Four days before his 21st birthday, on December 7, 1941, England volunteered to work in the ship's radio room, trading with a friend so that he could spend time with his family upon their arrival.

Moored at Battleship Row 7, outboard and alongside USS Maryland, Oklahoma took three devastating torpedo hits as the first Japanese bombs fell.

Within 20 minutes, she swung over and capsized — her turtling halted only when her masts touched bottom, with her starboard hull above water and some of her keel clear.

Amidst smoke and flame, disregarding concerns for his personal survival and safety, "the young officer refused to leave without helping others trapped in the depths of the battleship."

"[20] From December 1941 through June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of those who perished, interring them in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries in Hawaii.

In September 1947, the remains were disinterred by the American Graves Registration Service, and transferred to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.

The remains of 388 unidentified sailors and Marines were first interred as unknowns in the Nu'uanu and Halawa cemeteries, but were all disinterred in 1947, in an unsuccessful attempt to identify more personnel.

In 2003, a Pearl Harbor survivor, Ray Emory, conducted inquiries which resulted in the exhumation of a single casket associated with the Oklahoma loss.

[20] Upon identification, he was reburied with full military honors next to his parents,[1] Sam and Thelma England, in the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.

That performance caused the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest King, to declare in a rhetorical flourish that "There’ll always be an England in the United States Navy.

[2][5] That England served in every major Pacific engagement from Vietnam to Desert Storm, from rescuing pilots, performing as plane guard or picket, to showing force around the globe.

England was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon for supporting search and rescue operations in the Gulf of Tonkin from January 3 to June 6, 1966.

[47] Originally called a "destroyer leader" or frigate (DLG), in 1975 she was re-designated a cruiser (CG) in the United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification.