Skip to main content
Carnegie Hero Fund Commission
  • Heroes
    • Latest Award Announcements
      • Award Announcement Archive
    • Rolls of Honor
      • Two-time Carnegie Medal recipients
    • Search Heroes
    • Resources for Heroes & Families
      • Overview
      • Scholarship Form
      • Beneficiary Form
      • Grave Markers
      • Academic Honor Cords
      • Carnegie Medal Refinishing
      • Update Contact Information
    • Request More Information On A Hero
  • Nominate
    • Award Consideration Process
    • Award Nomination Form
    • Case Status Inquiry Form
  • About
    • Mission
    • Deed of Trust
    • History
    • Historical Timeline
    • The Carnegie Medal
    • Commission and Staff
    • Financials
  • News
    • Impulse Archives
    • Impulse Index
    • Other Press Releases
    • Media Coverage
  • Resources
    • A Century of Heroes
    • Power of One Archive: Hero Fund Awards 10,000th Carnegie Medal
      • Speeches from Power of One Event
    • Annual Reports
    • About Andrew Carnegie
    • European Hero Funds
    • Resources for Media/Presenters
    • Centennial Archive
  • Contact
Carnegie Hero Fund Commission
  • Heroes
    • Latest Award Announcements
      • Award Announcement Archive
    • Rolls of Honor
      • Two-time Carnegie Medal recipients
    • Search Heroes
    • Resources for Heroes & Families
      • Overview
      • Scholarship Form
      • Beneficiary Form
      • Grave Markers
      • Academic Honor Cords
      • Carnegie Medal Refinishing
      • Update Contact Information
    • Request More Information On A Hero
  • Nominate
    • Award Consideration Process
    • Award Nomination Form
    • Case Status Inquiry Form
  • About
    • Mission
    • Deed of Trust
    • History
    • Historical Timeline
    • The Carnegie Medal
    • Commission and Staff
    • Financials
  • News
    • Impulse Archives
    • Impulse Index
    • Other Press Releases
    • Media Coverage
  • Resources
    • A Century of Heroes
    • Power of One Archive: Hero Fund Awards 10,000th Carnegie Medal
      • Speeches from Power of One Event
    • Annual Reports
    • About Andrew Carnegie
    • European Hero Funds
    • Resources for Media/Presenters
    • Centennial Archive
  • Contact
Award Announcement Archive Heroes
Officer John Smith, 2019 Awardee

18 will receive Carnegie Medal for acts of extraordinary heroism; including one man who will posthumously receive second Carnegie Medal

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Jewels Phraner

March 24, 2021 — The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today announced that 18 people will receive North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism for risking their lives for others in peril.

Among those to be awarded the Carnegie Medal is Michael Robert Keyser, to become only the sixth person in the 117-year history of the Hero Fund to receive a second Carnegie Medal. Keyser received the Carnegie Medal at the age of 19, when he went to the scene of a Feb. 25, 1990, one-vehicle accident in which the car had left the highway and hit a utility pole; flames broke out at the front end of the car. Risking electrocution, Keyser reached through the driver’s window and pulled the 37-year-old driver to safety. Thirty years later, he is being recognized posthumously for again going to the aid of a motorist. Keyser approached an overturned tractor-trailer at night and attempted to break the windshield to pull the man from the cab, when another semi-truck careened into the overturned truck which hit and killed Keyser and the driver of the first semi.

“The 30 years between the two acts bear witness to Michael Keyser living his life as a hero, always willing to help his fellow man. We are honored to count Mr. Keyser among these latest esteemed heroes and the newest member of the small grouping of double-awarded Carnegie heroes,” Hero Fund President Eric Zahren said.

More information about the five previous double-awarded Carnegie heroes can be found on our website.

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 first announcement of 2021 recipients, a total of 10,220 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 117 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:

  • Norman Tanner Olsen, Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Christopher Etre, Upton, Massachusetts
  • Andrew J. Sullivan, Enfield, Connecticut
  • Kendall D. Flowers, deceased, Miami, Florida
  • Christian Alexander Burgos, deceased, Miami, Florida
  • Jonathan A. Hudash, Williamson County, Texas
  • Michael Robert Keyser, deceased, Hesperia, California
  • John A. Franco, Willington, Connecticut
  • Jonathan L. Goldfarb, Fairfield, Connecticut
  • Matthew Goldfarb, Howell, New Jersey
  • Shawn H. Turner, Boca Raton, Florida
  • Mark S. McAuliff, Milford, New Jersey
  • Lyle Berglund, Roy, Utah
  • Bradley Jay Berglund, Syracuse, Utah
  • Jonathan Wiese, San Diego
  • Kinzo Heath Mihara, Hauser, Idaho
  • Rafael A. Rodriguez, Henderson, Nevada
  • Lester Robert Taber, Jr., Winchester, Massachusetts

To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete a nomination form online or write to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. 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.


News release PDF

  • Latest Award Announcements
  • Award Announcement Archive
  • Two-time Carnegie Medal recipients
  • Search Heroes
  • Resources for Heroes & Families
  • Update Contact Information
  • Request More Information On A Hero
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • YouTube

© 2023 Carnegie Hero Fund Commission®. All rights reserved.
Using our website or providing personal information is your consent to our Terms & Conditions, including our Privacy Notice (including its “Cookies” info).