William B. Stacy

He jumped into rough seas and saved an exhausted crew member

William Bradford Stacy earned the Medal of Honor in Cape Haitien harbor, Haiti, on January 15, 1866. A seaman aboard USS Rhode Island, he acted after a crew member fell overboard while the ship was taking on coal.

The exhausted sailor lost his grip on a rope. Despite rough seas, Stacy jumped into the water and secured the rope around him, saving him from drowning.

Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, on March 4, 1838, Stacy was accredited to New Bedford for the award. He died in Haswell, Colorado, on May 3, 1921, and is buried at Highland Cemetery in Iola, Kansas.

Medal of Honor citation

While coaling ship in the harbor of Cape Haiten, one of the crew of the U.S.S. Rhode Island fell overboard, and, after catching a rope, had been forced by exhaustion to relinquish his hold. Although the sea was running high at the time, Stacy, at the peril of his life, jumped overboard, secured the rope around his shipmate, and thus saved him from drowning.