Robert Augustus Sweeney

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Robert Augustus Sweeney
February 20, 1853(1853-02-20)December 19, 1890 (aged 37)
Image:Replace this image male.svg
Robert Augustus Sweeney, Medal of Honor recipient
Place of birth Montreal, Canada
Allegiance Flag of the United States United States
Service/branch United States Navy
Rank Ordinary Seaman
Awards Medal of Honor (2),

Robert Augustus Sweeney (February 20, 1853December 19, 1890) was a sailor who in the United States Navy and is one of only nineteen servicemen, and the only African American, to receive the Medal of Honor twice - for peace-time actions (for which he would now be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal).[citation needed]

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[edit] Biography

Robert Sweeney was born 20 February 1853 in Montreal, Canada.

He is buried in Calvary Cemetery Woodside, New York.

[edit] Medal of Honor citation

His first citation reads:

Serving on board the USS Kearsarge, at Hampton Roads, Va., 26 October 1881, Sweeney jumped overboard and assisted in saving from drowning a shipmate who had fallen overboard into a strongly running tide.

His second citation:

Serving on board the USS Jamestown, at the Navy Yard New York, 20 December 1883, Sweeney rescued from drowning A. A. George, who had fallen overboard from that vessel.

[edit] See also

[edit] References