Karl Westa

Karl Westa (April 8, 1875 – March 3, 1949) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Biography
Karl Westa was born in Norway and immigrated to the United States. He departed on board the Danish vessel SS Hellig Olav from the port of Kristiansand and arrived in New York City on September 5, 1905.
Westa joined the United States Navy from New York and by September 8, 1910, was serving as a chief machinist's mate on the USS North Dakota (BB-29). On that day, while the North Dakota was conducting tests using oil as fuel, an explosion occurred, killing three sailors and endangering the ship. In the engine room, pieces of hot coal and coke floated in waist-high hot water, oil was aflame above one of the boilers, and the entire room was filled with smoke, steam, and fumes. Despite these dangers, Westa and five other men of the ship's engineering department...