Heroes honored with Carnegie Medals
Nineteen people were named as Carnegie Medal recipients on Dec. 22, 2014. The medal honors those who risk their lives to save, or attempt to save, others.
Pawel Kruszewski, the Red Cross Maine Humanitarian Real Hero, and his longtime girlfriend, Shelley Hodges, talk with Auburn fire Chief Frank Roma after the United Valley American Red Cross's annual Real Heroes Breakfast at the Ramada Inn in Lewiston, Maine on Tuesday. Kruszewski was honored for pulling three people from a burning vehicle after it had flipped on its roof on Sept. 10, 2013.
To read the recipients stories visit the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
Richard Blessen
Richard L. Blessen helped to save 14-year-old stepbrothers Seth Albert and Bryar Alvarado-Meyer from drowning in Duncan, Nebraska, December 25, 2013.
The stepbrothers broke through the ice on Duncan Lakes. Unable to extract themselves, they clung to solid ice and shouted for help.
Blessen, 45, a college administrator, heard the boys and, after calling for help, took a 17-foot aluminum canoe to reach the boys and bring them to safety.
The crew of the The Tuxedni
Gregory Plancich and Daniel Hardwick of Vashon Wash., Jim Fultz of Siletz, Ore. and Wayne Kitt of Loon lake, Wash.
The crew of Air Station Kodiak and assembled guests congratulate the crew of the 109-foot, Seattle-based fishing vessel Tuxedni on their award of the Gold Life Saving Medal presented by the Coast Guard at the Billiken Theater on Coast Guard Base Kodiak, June 12, 2013, in Kodiak, Alaska.
The men came to the rescue of another fishing vessel, The Heritage, when it became disabled during a storm while crossing Alitak Bay off Kodiak Island, Alaska.
Despite darkness, sustained winds of 66 m.p.h., sub-zero air temperatures, and blowing snow, the four men immediately left safe mooring and took the Tuxedni about four miles over the course of an hour to the last known location of the Heritage and rescued the crew.
Samuel Irick
Samuel Irick died after rescuing Amberly A. Wait from an assault in Houston, Texas, November 11, 2010.
Wait, 44, was standing outside a gas station when a man demanded she give him her purse at gunpoint. Irick, 24, was pumping gas nearby and approached, allowing Wait to get away. In a fight that followed, Irick was shot and killed.
Clifford Faraci
Cliff Faraci, shown in November 2014 accepting an award from the Arizona Burn Center, is honored for his courage while trying to rescue Shelby Dwyer from a burning automobile in March 2013. Faraci was burned when the automobile was engulfed in flames.
Paul Mongiello
Paul W. Mongiello, 57, rescued Lindsay Simmons and Patrick H. Woodward from JJ's restaurant on Feb. 19, 2013.
Simmons and Woodward were inside the restaurant where they were employed when natural gas that had leaked into the one-story building exploded.
Mongiello, 57, an insurance executive, was in his car, when the gas caught fire. He walked into the burning building to reach Simmons and carried her to safety then returned for Woodward.
Jonathan Barthel
Jonathan A. Barthel helped to save Kyan Overbo, 9, and Daniel J. M. Overbo from drowning in Lake Norden, S.D. after their canoe capsized, April 21, 2014. Barthel, an off-duty Hamlin County sheriff's deputy, where he had served for only a month, ran barefoot to rescue the two from frigid waters.
James M. Kocker
James M. Kocker saved Anthony S. Johnson from drowning when Johnson's car left the road and came to rest in a pond in Ellensburg, Washington, Oct. 12, 2013.
Johnson was knocked unconscious and, with the help of a state trooper, Kocker swam into the submerged car and pulled Johnson free.
Bernard Kozen
Bernard Kozen stands near the scene, where a shooting occurred the night before at the Ross Township Municipal Building, in Saylorsburg, Pa.
Kozen helped subdue the gunman, who is charged with killing three people at a municipal meeting in Saylorsburg in August, 2013.