From the archives: The Carnegies visit Santa Cruz
By contemporary accounts, the visit of Andrew Carnegie and his wife, Louise, and daughter, Margaret, to Santa Cruz, Calif., on March 11, 1910, was thoroughly enjoyed by both the …
News
Officer John Smith,
2019 Awardee
15:13 Work-related accident claimed life of Carnegie Hero Donald Noel Harwood
Late in the morning on June 15, 1966, Donald Noel Harwood made the spur-of-the-moment decision that cost him his life as he struggled to save another’s. After his supervisor at …
President Obama gives Medal of Valor to Carnegie Hero
When both of Pittsburgh’s daily newspapers carried a photo of Donald E. Thompson on their front pages last May 17, 2015, it was like seeing an old friend. Thompson was …
Board notes: Judge the acts, not the actors
By Mark Laskow, Chair Carnegie Hero Fund Commission “Judge not, lest you be judged.” —Matthew 7:1 That is how Jesus put it. In more modern terms, someone accused of questionable …
Carnegie Hero Connor M. Bystrom graduates vet school
Carnegie Hero Connor M. Bystrom of Holmes Beach, Fla., celebrated his veterinary school graduation in June 2016 with his parents, William and Jeannie Holmes Bystrom. Cited by the Hero Fund in …
Other medals for heroism
Andrew Carnegie believed that those who risk their lives to save others are to be recognized as the heroes of civilization, in contrast to “the heroes of barbarism,” who main …
Carnegie Hero Christopher Jon Ihle: Banker to builder
Following his award of the Carnegie Medal in 2014, Christopher Jon Ihle of Huxley, Iowa, went through something of a post-rescue career change, resulting in his new business, My Main …
Friends remembered: Waymon L. Halsell
Waymon L. Halsell, 87, of Bakersfield, Calif., died July 11. He was awarded the medal in 1960 in recognition of his helping to save a man from suffocation after a …
Friends remembered: Jeffrey Robert Wieser and Thomas J. Norsworthy
Two young men from Southern California who met as strangers when they teamed up to save victims of a freeway crash 34 years ago died recently, within a period of …
Minor league outfielder’s best catch saved the town doctor 103 years ago
By Van Craddock Longview, Texas More than 100 years ago, John R. Hoffmann was known for his heroic efforts on the Longview Cannibals’ minor league baseball team. An East Texas …
Sweet reunion 15 years later with Carnegie Hero Horatio G. Pino
Carnegie Hero Horatio G. Pino of Virginia Beach, Va., and Kayla McDaniel first met five minutes after midnight on April 19, 2001. Pino, then 34, was a deputy with the …
Graves of heroes marked
Graves of Carnegie Medal awardees in Connecticut and Ontario have been designated with a bronze marker cast in the likeness of the medal. The markers are made available by the …
2015 Carnegie Medal awardee latest to receive Coast Guard Gold Medal
In 2015, Terry Brown of Dallas, Ore., was awarded the Carnegie Medal for his actions of June 2, 2014, by which he helped to save a teenage boy from drowning …
Douglas R. Chambers retires
Douglas R. Chambers, left, the Hero Fund’s director of external affairs, made his last medal presentation in late June 2016 and retired from the organization a week later. He is …
Service anniversaries
Long and faithful service by two members of the Commission was recognized at its 112th annual meeting in June 2016. Board chair Mark Laskow, shown at left in both photos, …
Hero later realizes he was agent of God
By Kenneth W. Mathews, Billerica, Mass. Carnegie Medal awardee #4836 When I was about 10 years old, I purchased four goldfish at the W.T. Grant store in Nashua, N.H. I …
New vice chair elected
Nancy L. Rackoff, a member of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission since 2002, was elected vice chair of the board at the Commission’s 112th annual meeting, held in June 2016 …
Carnegie Hero funds world news
A “mini summit” of representatives from three of Andrew Carnegie’s nine existing hero funds took place in The Hague, Netherlands, in spring 2016, hosted by Boi Jongejan, second from right, …
Heroism of Robert Connelly still resonates through Kiwanis medal
Friday, Sept. 23, 1966, was Kiwanis Kids Day in Chicago, Ill., and its suburbs, and the 105 area clubs of the worldwide service organization were combining manpower to sell peanuts …
Carnegie Medal presentations
One day after Ronaldo J. Freitas of Somerville, Mass., pulled a woman from her crashed and burning car in Somerville on March 20, 2015, John Conley of Barrington, R.I., was emailing the …