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Carnegie Hero Fund Commission
  • Heroes
    • Latest Award Announcements
      • Award Announcement Archive
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    • Search Heroes
    • Resources for Heroes & Families
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Award Announcement Archive Heroes
Officer John Smith, 2019 Awardee

17 civilian heroes named for acts of heroism will receive Carnegie Medal

Posted on December 14, 2020 by Jewels Phraner

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 14, 2020 — The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today announced 17 people will receive the highest honor for civilian heroism in the U.S. and Canada for risking their lives for others in life-threatening peril.

Among those awarded the Carnegie Medal was Wendy Winters who grabbed two plastic bins and charged at an active shooter who had forced entry into the Maryland newsroom where she worked. She was shot and killed.

The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who enter mortal danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. With this fourth and final announcement of 2020 recipients, a total of 10,202 Carnegie Medals have been awarded since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission Chair Mark Laskow said each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 116 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, more than $42 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

The awardees are:

  • Calvin Parham, Knightstown, Indiana
  • Stacey Redmon, deceased, Vernon, Florida
  • David A. Dulkis, Corona, California
  • Darren Cox, Corona, California
  • Robert Lawson, King, North Carolina
  • Jeffrey Johnson, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
  • Robert J. Whitley, New London, Missouri
  • James W. Whitley II, Hannibal, Missouri
  • Harmanjeet Singh Gill, Brampton, Ontario
  • Benjamin M. Blostein, Royal Oak, Michigan
  • Christopher F.N. Schultz, deceased, Frazee, Minnesota
  • Jason Aaron Strunk, Canton, Ohio
  • Seth Robert Bond, Tallmadge, Ohio
  • Leslie E. Shaffer, Akron, Ohio
  • Jonathan Stein-Palmiere, deceased, Calgary, Alberta
  • Wendy Winters, deceased, Edgewater, Maryland
  • John D. Phelps, Tampa, Florida

To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete a nomination form online, write the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission at 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or call 1-800-447-8900. More information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at carnegiehero.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.


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