Robert was born on the 2nd of May 1881, in Brooklyn, New York, and he enlisted in the US Navy in 1898, at the age of 16. The Spanish-American War was declared shortly after his enlistment, though it isn’t clear if he was actually sent to Cuba for the conflict. Robert did receive the campaign medal for the conflict, as well as for the Philippine-American War, and he was a Landsman during both conflicts. When the USS Newark was deployed to China in 1900, he was a Hospital Apprentice and his actions there would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in volunteering and carrying messages under fire at Peking, China, 12 July 1900.

The messages Robert carried were between the American and British civilian compounds while receiving enemy sniper fire. He received the Medal on the 19th of July 1901, while on board the USS Brooklyn and at the time he was the youngest recipient of the conflict. Robert left the Navy the following month and was first married to Jessie Pascoe in 1903. The couple had no children and were divorced, with Robert remarrying Mary McKenna in 1906.

They had two children and when the US entered World War 1, Robert re-enlisted into the Navy and served on the USS America. He was promoted to the warrant officer rank of Pharmacist in 1920 and remained in the Navy until his retirement in 1939, at the rank of Chief Pharmacist. Robert’s wife Mary died in 1930, and it appears that Robert married one last time to Lillie Lindsey in 1937.

On the 15th of July 1942, Robert Henry Stanley died at the age of 61 and he is buried with Mary in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 7, Lot 8348.