A conversation that comes up often in the Hero Fund office are the stories of six Carnegie heroes who received the Carnegie Medal not once, but twice.

The Carnegie Medal honors heroic acts in which the rescuers take on extraordinary physical risk. These stories are often remarkable, but for the six double-recipients, they took on great risk a second time, despite all the trauma that can come out of a heroic act, is nothing short of incredible.

One of these six heroes is Daniel Elwood Stockwell, who, at age 20, saved a man from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Phippsburg, Maine, in 1963. Then 29 years later, as a Keene, New Hampshire, principal, he offered himself in exchange for 15 seventh-graders who were being held hostage by a 16-year-old boy armed with a high-powered rifle. The students escaped unharmed.

On May 12, 1963, a 20-year-old man was washed off a rocky ledge into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Phippsburg. He drifted seaward in waves 4-to 6-feet high.

One 18-year-old student, holding a lifeline fashioned out of articles of clothing, climbed down to a ledge and attempted to throw the line to the man without success. A large wave swept the 18-year-old off the ledge.

Meanwhile, Stockwell, a 20-year-old student, had run 150 feet to a small beach opposite the two students in the water. He tied one end of a 50-foot rope around his waist, and, while others held the rope, he swam 35 feet through the waves, reaching the 20-year-old, who was unconscious.

Stockwell took a hold of the man and aided by people pulling on the rope, Stockwell reached the beach with the man, who was revived and recovered. The 18-year-old drowned.

Stockwell was nearly 30 years older when he received the Carnegie Medal for the second time.

Principal of an East Swanzey, New Hampshire, school, on Oct. 15, 1991, he went to a classroom where 15 seventh-graders were being held hostage by a 16-year-old boy armed with a high-powered rifle.

Stockwell entered the room and offered himself as a substitute hostage in exchange for the students’ release; the assailant agreed. The students exited the room unharmed.

For the next 40 minutes, Stockwell, at gunpoint, conversed with the assailant, until police entered the room and subdued him.

Stockwell’s story inspires selflessness, showcasing the strong bond a principal can have with their students. His story convinces me that altruism is not something just found in one off circumstances, but something that can permeate someone’s character and show the generosity they pour into their community.

Sources:

Roll of Two-time Carnegie Medal Recipients – Carnegie Hero Fund Commission