Edward Alvin Clary

He showed courage during the boiler accident aboard Hopkins.

Edward Alvin Clary received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism aboard USS Hopkins during a boiler accident on 14 February 1910. A watertender in the United States Navy, he was recognized for professional courage in a dangerous machinery emergency at San Diego, California.

Clary was born in Mount Pleasant, Kentucky, on 6 May 1883. His award was accredited to Kentucky. His recognized action took place during peacetime naval service.

The official citation identifies the boiler accident and commends his conduct in the line of his profession. It does not explain the precise tasks he performed or name people rescued. Those details should not be supplied without additional evidence.

Clary survived the incident and died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on 30 April 1939. He is buried in Santa Fe National Cemetery. His Medal of Honor preserves the memory of courage shown within a ship's engineering spaces, where a mechanical failure could create immediate danger even without an enemy present.

Medal of Honor citation

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.