Robert W. Cary-Arlington, VA
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 38° 52.554 W 077° 04.224
18S E 320399 N 4305042
Peacetime Medal of Honor Recipient for action on the occasion of the explosion on board the USS San Diego on January 21, 1915. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 6, Site 5695-G.
Waymark Code: WMXZ73
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 03/20/2018
Views: 0
He was born on August 18, 1890 in Kansas City, MO and died on July 15, 1967 in Toledo, OH. He attained the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy. His Medal of Honor information and citation is: CARY, ROBERT W.
• Rank and organization: Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. San Diego
• Place and date: Aboard U.S.S. San Diego, 21 January 1915
• Entered service at: Buncston, Mo.
Citation: For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession on the occasion of an explosion on board the U.S.S. San Diego, 21 January 1915. Lt. Comdr. Cary (then Ensign), U.S. Navy, an observer on duty in the firerooms of the U.S.S. San Diego, commenced to take the half-hourly readings of the steam pressure at every boiler. He had read the steam and air pressure on No. 2 boiler and was just stepping through the electric watertight door into No. 1 fireroom when the boilers in No. 2 fireroom exploded. Ens. Cary stopped and held open the doors which were being closed electrically from the bridge, and yelled to the men in No. 2 fireroom to escape through these doors, which 3 of them did. Ens. Cary's action undoubtedly saved the lives of these men. He held the doors probably a minute with the escaping steam from the ruptured boilers around him. His example of coolness did much to keep the men in No. 1 fireroom at their posts hauling fires, although 5 boilers in their immediate vicinity had exploded and boilers Nos. 1 and 3 apparently had no water in them and were likely to explode any instant. When these fires were hauled under Nos. 1 and 3 boilers, Ens. Cary directed the men in this fireroom into the bunker, for they well knew the danger of these 2 boilers exploding. During the entire time Ens. Cary was cool and collected and showed an abundance of nerve under the most trying circumstances. His action on this occasion was above and beyond the call of duty.
Armed Service: Navy
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