Born on November 23, 1882, in Maryville, Robert Earl Bonney enlisted in Nashville at the age of 18. Bonney is Tennessee’s only peacetime Medal of Honor recipient.

On February 14, 1910, the USS Hopkins was off the coast of California. A boiler plate blew out and caused a large explosion. Chief Bonney faced the dangerous steam and pulled an unconscious sailor to safety. He then risked his own life by going back into the boiler room to clear the room of steam. The boiling hot steam
caused severe damage to his vocal cords. He was awarded the Medal of Honor a month later.

Bonney retired from the Navy in 1930 and served as a custodian at an elementary school near Seattle, Washington. At the start of World War II, even though he was in his 50s, he returned to active duty as an inspector in the Seattle shipyards. Bonney’s military career also included service during the Philippine campaign of the Spanish-American War, in Nicaragua during the Mexican intervention, and in both World Wars I and II. He died in 1967.