Carnegie Medal awarded to 23 for acts of extraordinary heroism

Posted on by Jewels Phraner

heroismPITTSBURGH, PA, June 30, 2016—In its second announcement of 2016, the CARNEGIE HERO FUND COMMISSION today awarded 23 Carnegie Medals in recognition of outstanding civilian heroism. The medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. One of the awardees, Calindo C. Fletcher, Jr., of Huntsville, Ala., died in the performance of his heroic act, by which he attempted to save a man from drowning in Athens, Ala., last July 4.

The heroes announced today bring to 47 the number of awards made to date in 2016 and to 9,868 the total number since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission Chair Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 112 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $38.2 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

The awardees are:

To nominate someone for the CARNEGIE MEDAL, write the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or call 1-800-447-8900 (toll free). Fuller information on the CARNEGIE MEDAL and the history of the CARNEGIE HERO FUND COMMISSION can be found at carnegiehero.org. Find us on Facebook.

KEITH A. WILT

Frederick, Maryland

MATTHEW J. GEPPI

Baltimore, Maryland

Keith A. Wilt and Matthew J. Geppi saved two boys from burning, Baltimore, Maryland, January 13, 2015. Two brothers, ages 3 and 4, were on the second floor of their family’s three-story row house after a fire broke out on that floor, in the front bedroom. Wilt, 49, equipment operator, and Geppi, 25, fuser and pipefitter, were at a worksite nearby and became aware of the fire. They ran to the scene, where they learned that children were inside the burning house. They entered the structure through its front door, Geppi with a fire extinguisher, and started up the nearby stairway, shouting for the children. The boys responded verbally. Despite flames that were spreading from the front room on that floor toward the top of the stairway, Wilt left the stairs and, in dense smoke that precluded visibility, made his way to the bedroom at the back of the floor. Geppi used the fire extinguisher to keep the advancing flames at bay. Wilt entered the bedroom and in the dense smoke crawled around the room in search of the children. He found the boys at a window at the back of the room, picked them up, and, guided by Geppi’s voice, carried them to the stairs. He handed one of the boys to Geppi and then fled downstairs and outside to safety with him and the boys, both of whom sustained smoke inhalation. Wilt and Geppi were given oxygen at the scene, and they recovered. 87205-9846 / 87207-9847

KENNETH ARNOLD HANSEN

Crystal, Michigan

Kenneth Arnold Hansen rescued Ethan L. Nokes from attacking dogs, Riverdale, Michigan, May 4, 2015. Ethan, 8, was being attacked by four large Rottweilers in the fenced-in backyard of a house he was visiting. Hansen, 46, construction company operator, was working about 300 feet away, on an adjoining property. Alerted to the attack, Hansen scaled the fence and then ran to where the dogs were surrounding Ethan as they kept up their attack. Screaming at the dogs, Hansen reached among them, grasped Ethan, and picked him up. He carried Ethan up the stairs to a deck at the back of the nearby house, the dogs following and attempting to continue their attack on the boy. Hansen attempted to open one of two doors leading to the house but found it locked. Successful in opening the second, he took Ethan inside the house, but the dogs followed them. Hansen secured Ethan in one of the rooms of the house and then got the dogs back outside. Ethan was flown to a hospital for treatment of numerous bite wounds about his body. Hansen sustained scratches to his face, arms, and legs, and he recovered. 87380-9848

RAYMOND L. ROBINSON

CHRISTOPHER Z. SMITH

Chicago, Illinois

Raymond L. Robinson and Christopher Z. Smith rescued Mark A. Czapla and Joseph R. Groh from assault, Chicago, Illinois, February 14, 2015. In a drugstore parking lot, Czapla and Groh, police officers, struggled against a suspected shoplifter who was attempting to flee from arrest. During the struggle, which took all three men to the pavement and bloodied the officers, the suspect gained control of Groh’s loaded pistol and, threatening the officers, fired it. The violent struggle continued. Watching from the parking lot, Robinson, 45, retail assistant manager, and Smith, 59, gaffer, joined in the struggle although the assailant greatly outweighed each of them. Robinson leaned over one of the officers and grasped the assailant’s gun hand with one hand while using the other to pry the assailant’s fingers off the trigger. As he did so, Smith grasped the assailant by the legs, crossed them, and pushed them against the assailant’s body. He then used his weight to help immobilize the assailant. After Robinson freed the gun from the assailant, one of the officers slid it from the assailant’s reach. Robinson, Smith, and the officers maintained control of the assailant until other police arrived and helped take him into custody. Czapla and Groh required hospital treatment for significant cuts and abrasions, and Robinson suffered a sprained knee and a fractured rib, for which he sought treatment. He recovered fully in three weeks. 87233-9849 / 87548-9850

ANDREW BAUGH

Mason City, Illinois

Andrew Baugh saved Chase W. McDermand from burning, Lincoln, Illinois, June 12, 2015. Chase, 14, was driving a midget-chassis race car during a race at a speedway when a fire broke out in the engine. He pulled onto the grass infield and released his safety belt as flames grew quickly to engulf and surround the car’s open driver’s compartment. While a volunteer firefighter fought the flames with a fire extinguisher, another racer, Baugh, 28, sales manager, stopped his car and ran to Chase’s. Wearing a fire-retardant race suit that afforded protection, albeit time-limited, Baugh stepped onto a bumper bar along the driver’s side of the car to access Chase, who was effectively pinned in place by the steering wheel. Through flames, Baugh reached over the car’s roll cage and into the car, grabbed Chase under both arms, and lifted him, thereby moving the steering wheel and freeing him. Baugh pulled Chase from the car and carried him a short distance before falling to the grass with him. Chase suffered only a minor burn to an elbow. 87543-9851

RONALDO R. ROMO, JR.

St. Louis, Missouri

Ronaldo R. Romo, Jr., saved Trent and Leo Pappan from burning, Shrewsbury, Missouri, April 30, 2015. Pappan, 37, remained in the driver’s seat of a sport utility vehicle after an accident on an interstate highway that badly damaged the vehicle. His young son, Leo, was strapped into a car seat in the vehicle’s rear seat. Flames broke out at the front of the car. Approaching the scene in his vehicle on the same highway, Romo, 32, driver, stopped and, hearing Pappan shout for help, ran to the driver’s door of Pappan’s car. After trying unsuccessfully to open that door, Romo reached through its window opening and with Pappan released Pappan’s safety belt. As flames were entering the front of the passenger compartment, Romo grasped Pappan and pulled him head first out of the car. He took Pappan to the side of the highway, learning then that Leo was inside the vehicle. Romo returned to the burning car, opened the rear door on the driver’s side, and entered, flames by then having spread to the car’s front seats. Kneeling on the backseat, Romo freed Leo from his car seat, but with difficulty. He withdrew from the vehicle with Leo and took him to the side of the highway, flames soon growing to engulf the car. Pappan and Leo required hospital treatment for minor injuries. 87510-9852

MICHAEL H. PEDDICORD

DONALD E. LEE, SR.

Denton, Maryland

Michael H. Peddicord and Donald E. Lee, Sr., helped to save Norma L. Towers from burning, Denton, Maryland, October 24, 2014. Towers, 87, was in a first-floor bedroom of her two-story house when propane gas that had leaked into the structure exploded before dawn and set fire to it. The explosion dislodged floorboards throughout the first floor, including in Towers’s bedroom, where her bed was upended. Peddicord, 45, maintenance director, responded from the house next door and with a neighbor, Lee, 60, retired plumber, entered the damaged structure through its front door, despite flames at its rear that were rapidly growing and spreading. In dense smoke they proceeded to Towers’s bedroom, which was at the front of the house, and found Towers, badly injured, trapped in the debris. Together the men worked to free her, after which Peddicord carried her to the front door. Another responding neighbor took Towers from him and to safety. Peddicord and Lee escaped the house just before flames engulfed and destroyed it. Towers was not burned but died shortly of her injuries. Peddicord and Lee recovered from smoke inhalation and cuts to their legs. 87127-9861 / 87128-9862

CALINDO C. FLETCHER, JR., deceased

Huntsville, Alabama

Calindo C. Fletcher, Jr., died after attempting to save Buddy W. Johnson from drowning, Athens, Alabama, July 4, 2015. Johnson, 37, called for help after failing to re-enter a kayak that had overturned at the center of Montgomery Lake. He started to swim toward the bank but submerged and did not resurface. In another party at the scene, Fletcher, 20, doffed his shoes and entered the water. He swam toward the point where Johnson was last seen but en route began to struggle. He turned to face the bank, and then he too submerged and did not resurface. Police and firefighters arrived shortly and pulled the men from the water. Both were taken to the hospital, where Johnson was pronounced dead of drowning. Fletcher was transferred to another facility, where he died two days later, also of drowning. 87533-9868

WILLIAM JAMES GRIEP, JR.

St. Francis, Minnesota

BENJAMIN MCAULIFFE

Apex, North Carolina

William James Griep, Jr., and Benjamin McAuliffe helped to save Lillian R. Anderson from burning, Oak Grove, Minnesota, September 7, 2015. Anderson, 80, was asleep in her bedroom, on the upper level of her split-level house, after a fire broke out in the kitchen, on the main level. Requiring a walker, she attempted to flee but fell in the hall outside her bedroom, from where she called 911 for help. Griep, 54, paramedic, and McAuliffe, 31, emergency medical technician, dispatched to be on standby at the scene, arrived before firefighters, finding dense smoke issuing from the house. While Griep entered the house through the front door and passed the burning kitchen en route to the stairs leading to the upper level, McAuliffe went to the side of the structure, climbed the stairs to a deck off Anderson’s bedroom, and entered the house. The men made their way through dense smoke that severely compromised visibility and found Anderson in the hall. With difficulty, they maneuvered her back into her bedroom and toward the door to the deck. A responding sheriff’s deputy entered through that door and helped Griep drag Anderson the remaining distance to the deck as McAuliffe, nearly overcome by smoke, exited the house for air. Anderson required hospitalization for treatment of smoke inhalation. Griep and McAuliffe also inhaled smoke and were treated at the hospital. They recovered. 87683-9855 / 87684-9856

ASHLEY MARIE ALDRIDGE

Auburn, Illinois

Ashley Marie Aldridge saved Earl C. Moorman from being struck by a train, Auburn, Illinois, September 15, 2015. Moorman, 75, was attempting to cross a railroad track at a crossing in his motorized wheelchair when the chair became caught against one of the rails. He could not free it and called for help. Aldridge, 19, homemaker, saw him from her nearby home and left to check on him. When she was about 160 feet from the crossing, its gates and lights were activated, indicating that an approaching train, traveling at about 78 m.p.h., was about 2,600 feet away. Barefoot, Aldridge ran to the crossing, crouched behind the back of the wheelchair, and attempted unsuccessfully to lift it. With the train bearing down on them, she then grasped Moorman underneath the arms from behind and pulled on him. Requiring a second attempt, she lifted him enough to clear the chair and backed away from the track with him. Within seconds, the train, at only slightly diminished speed, struck the wheelchair, destroying it, before stopping well beyond the crossing. 87706-9857

TURNER LAGPACAN

Wichita, Kansas

JASON C. NEWBY

Eaton, Colorado

Turner Lagpacan and Jason C. Newby attempted to rescue Dwight H. Handley from burning, Mulhall, Oklahoma, April 3, 2015. Handley, 62, was the driver of a tractor-trailer that, in an interstate highway accident, struck a disabled tractor-trailer and came to rest shortly beyond it. Flames broke out at the front of Handley’s badly damaged rig and quickly grew and spread along the tractor toward its tank trailer, and heavy, black smoke issued from the wreckage. Driving on the same highway, Lagpacan, 23, security officer, witnessed the accident. He parked and responded to the passenger side of the burning tractor, where he saw that Handley was still alive. Concluding that he needed a fire extinguisher to gain access to Handley, Lagpacan ran toward another truck, which was stopping at the scene. The driver of that truck, Newby, 44, youth pastor, provided Lagpacan a fire extinguisher and, taking one himself, ran with Lagpacan as he returned to the passenger side of Handley’s truck. When they were at a point about 15 feet opposite the passenger door, and before they could activate their fire extinguishers, the truck’s cargo tank, containing residual gasoline and fumes, exploded, blowing them 20 feet away, off the roadway. Flames grew to engulf and destroy the tractor-trailer. Handley died in the accident. Lagpacan was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and then sought hospital treatment for continuing breathing problems. Newby sustained severe injury to his right leg, which required three days’ hospitalization for treatment, including surgery. 87302-9858 / 87301-9859

DERRICK M. JOHNSON

Circle Pines, Minnesota

Derrick M. Johnson rescued Galen H. Carlson from an attacking dog, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, July 20, 2015. Carlson, 78, was walking his dog on a residential street when a 97-pound, adult pit bull approached and charged them, knocking Carlson to the pavement. The pit bull mauled Carlson’s dog, killing it, and bit Carlson on the hand. Working at a construction site nearby, Johnson, 51, equipment operator, was alerted to the attack. He responded to the scene, finding Carlson, bloodied, still on the pavement with the pit bull continuing its attack on him. Johnson ran to the dog and, grasping it by the collar, pulled it away from Carlson. He struck the dog’s head against the pavement and, using his weight, forced the dog’s body to the ground to immobilize it. As the dog was fighting against him, Johnson shoved it away, ordering it to leave, but it remained at the scene, menacing Johnson and Carlson. Johnson was using a wooden post in his attempts to ward off the dog when police officers responded shortly and helped him secure it. Carlson was taken to the hospital for treatment of a bite wound and other injuries. 87612-9860

M. NEIL JONES, SR.

Binghamton, New York

M. Neil Jones, Sr., helped to rescue Louis J. Cioci from assault, Johnson City, New York, March 31, 2014. Cioci, 42, a police officer, was attempting to arrest a deranged man who had just shot another officer on the street outside a hospital. The assailant took Cioci to the pavement, got onto his back, and struggled against him for his gun, and he managed to fire it. Cioci shouted for help. Jones, 60, a valet supervisor who worked at the hospital, witnessed the assault on the officers. He and a hospital security guard approached Cioci and the assailant and pulled the assailant off Cioci’s back. Although he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds himself, the assailant struggled against the men as they subdued him and Cioci put him in handcuffs. Jones suffered a heart attack shortly after the rescue and required three days’ hospitalization. He recovered. 87427-9853

KAIDEN J. PORTER-FOY

Lake Stevens, Washington

Kaiden J. Porter-Foy rescued Gigi L. Hays from burning, Lake Stevens, Washington, August 8, 2015. At night, Hays, 54, was in the laundry room of her double-width mobile home as intense flames engulfed the adjoining kitchen and living room. In his home across the street, Kaiden, 16, high school student, saw the house and its adjacent garage on fire and immediately responded to the scene. Assuming the house was occupied, he went to its front door, but deteriorating conditions prevented his entering there. He circled around to the back of the structure, passing a portion of the back wall that had been compromised in the fire. Kaiden ran onto a covered deck and kicked in the back door, which opened to the laundry room. As dense smoke precluded visibility, he went to the floor, where he saw Hays about six feet into the room. Kaiden advanced to Hays and then dragged her from the structure. He took her from the deck into the yard, from which others took her to safety. Hays required hospitalization, and Kaiden recovered from minor burns to his arms. 87793-9863

JACOB SCOTT JONES

St. Helens, Oregon

Jacob Scott Jones rescued Albert L. Schneider and others from assault, St. Helens, Oregon, March 27, 2015. Schneider, 75, exited his house and approached a male neighbor, 71, who was on the street confronting another neighbor, a teenager. The man produced a pistol and shot Schneider in the stomach before Schneider wrested the gun away, both men falling to the pavement in their struggle. Jones, 35, carpenter, who also lived nearby, was alerted to the shooting and immediately responded to the scene. Not then knowing which of the men was the shooter, Jones took the pistol from Schneider, removed its magazine, and placed both items in a nearby garage. Regaining his footing, meanwhile, the assailant informed he was returning to his property for another gun, and he started to walk toward his garage. As he followed the assailant, intending to keep him at the scene, Jones heard one of those who had gathered say that the assailant was going for another gun, and he then saw the assailant remove a weapon from the trunk of his car. Jones immediately ran to him, took a pistol from his hand, and cast it aside. He then took the assailant to the pavement and pinned him there until police arrived shortly and arrested him. Schneider required hospitalization for treatment of his wound. 87317-9864

CHARLES G. GLUCKLEDER

Steger, Illinois

Charles G. Gluckleder rescued Tyree Miller, Sr., and Tyree Miller, Jr., from burning, Chicago Heights, Illinois, October 14, 2015. Miller, 88, and his son, 64, were in second-floor bedrooms of their 2.5-story house after fire broke out in Miller’s bedroom. The second floor quickly filled with smoke, and Miller collapsed just inside his bedroom doorway. Alerted to the fire, his son started to drag Miller to the top of the stairs, but he too collapsed in the thick smoke. On his way to work, Gluckleder, 56, maintenance worker, came upon the burning house and, not seeing anyone about, stopped to see if it was occupied. He gained entry through the front door and ascended the nearby stairs to the second floor, where dense smoke precluded visibility and the heat was intense. Groping, he found both men on the floor near the top of the stairs. Miller’s son was barely conscious, and although he greatly outweighed Gluckleder, Gluckleder maneuvered him to the top of the stairs and stumbled down them with him. Gluckleder returned to the second floor, grasped Miller, who was unconscious, by the legs, and dragged him downstairs. At some point others had arrived, and they helped take Miller and his son from the house to safety. Miller and his son were hospitalized for treatment of their burns, and Miller died 11 days later. Gluckleder also required hospital treatment, for smoke inhalation, and he recovered. 87770-9865

CHRISTOPHER CANALE

Farmingville, New York

Christopher Canale saved Grace Robertson and John F. Weber, Jr., from burning, Manorville, New York, October 8, 2015. Robertson, 70, was the passenger of a small school bus that, driven by Weber, 67, caught fire at its front end in an accident on an interstate highway. Off duty and out of his department’s jurisdiction, Canale, 33, police officer, drove upon the scene and responded to the bus. Despite flames 12 feet high issuing from its engine area and heavy smoke inside the bus, Canale pried open the bus’s passenger door and entered the vehicle. At a point about halfway toward the back, he found Robertson on her hands and knees in the aisle. Canale pulled her to her feet and backed from the bus, pulling her. He lifted her from the vehicle and guided her to safety on the highway shoulder. Canale then returned to the bus and forced the driver’s door open. He reached for Weber and, locking arms with him, worked about a foot from the spreading flames to free Weber, who was pinned by the steering column. Pulling on him repeatedly, Canale freed Weber as flames were reaching the interior of the bus. The men stepped away from the vehicle moments before flames engulfed it. Robertson and Weber required hospital treatment for their injuries, but they were not burned. Canale was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene and coughed for about a week, but he fully recovered. 87781-9866

CHRISTOPHER T. DEPAOLI

Irvington, New York

Christopher T. DePaoli rescued Deborah Henry from assault, Irvington, New York, April 8, 2015. Henry, 36, was on the platform of a commuter train station when a man approached and stabbed her repeatedly. DePaoli, 53, parks foreman, was driving on the adjacent street and witnessed the assault. At first thinking it was a robbery, DePaoli left his vehicle and started to intervene, but on seeing the knife, he returned to his vehicle for a softball bat. Wielding the bat, he ran toward the assailant, threatening him. When the assailant then turned his attention to DePaoli, DePaoli stepped between him and Henry and forced the assailant about 10 feet away from Henry. An off-duty police officer arrived about then and ordered the assailant to drop the knife. He did not. A second responding officer immobilized the assailant, after which he was taken into custody. Henry required hospitalization for treatment of serious stab wounds. 87312-9867

KELLY WINTERS

Chapin, South Carolina

Kelly Winters rescued Leslie C. Miller from burning, Columbia, South Carolina, May 27, 2015. Miller, 44, was the driver of a tractor-trailer that, in an interstate highway accident before dawn, struck several vehicles and, bursting into flame, came to a rest, turned onto its side, partially atop the concrete medial barrier. The rig was hauling 8,500 gallons of gasoline in its tank trailer, which ruptured in the accident, freeing part of the cargo. Miller remained in the cab, trapped in the driver’s seat. Winters, 47, registered nurse, was already at the scene, having stopped for another accident. Witnessing the tractor-trailer crash, he ran from the burning wreckage but then returned to it. As Miller screamed for help, Winters climbed atop the tractor, reached through a window opening, and grasped her about the arms. He pulled, but Miller did not budge. Returning to the pavement, Winters kicked at the windshield, which was partially dislodged. He then grasped the glass and pulled on it, creating an opening to the cab. Intense heat forced Winters back as Miller freed herself and crawled through the windshield. Winters and another man aided her to her feet and took her to safety moments before flames grew to engulf the rig and other involved vehicles, destroying them. Miller required hospitalization for treatment of her injuries, including a minor burn. Winters suffered lacerations to his arms, and he recovered. 87436-9854