Edward Alvin Clary (May 6, 1883 – April 30, 1939) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

Biography

A native of Foxport,

Fleming County, Kentucky Fleming County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,082. Its county seat is Flemingsburg. The county was formed in 1798 and named for Colonel John Fleming, an Indian fighter and early ...

, Clary joined the Navy from that state. By February 14, 1910, he was serving as a

watertender A fireman, stoker or watertender is a person whose occupation it is to tend the fire for the running of a boiler, heating a building, or powering a steam engine. Much of the job is hard physical labor, such as shoveling fuel, typically coal, into ...

on the . On that day, the ''Hopkins'' experienced a

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

accident. For his actions during the incident, Bonney was awarded the Medal of Honor a month later, on March 23, 1910. Another sailor, Chief Watertender Robert Earl Bonney, received the medal for the same incident. Clary's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

On board the U.S.S. ''Hopkins'' for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession on the occasion of the accident to one of the boilers of that vessel, 14 February 1910.

Clary reached the rank of

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

before leaving the Navy after a 30-year career. He later worked as a

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

agent and lived in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

. At age 55, he died at his home in Santa Fe of

coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...

; he was buried in

Santa Fe National Cemetery Santa Fe National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Santa Fe, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. It encompasses , and as of 2021, had 68,000 interments. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it ...

References

External links

* 1883 births 1939 deaths People from Fleming County, Kentucky People from Santa Fe, New Mexico United States Navy sailors United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients Deaths from coronary thrombosis Non-combat recipients of the Medal of Honor Burials at Santa Fe National Cemetery {{US-navy-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links