Carnegie Hero Fund Commission Cites 20 for Extraordinary Civilian Heroism

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 20, 2013 /CNW/ - In its fourth and final award announcement of 2013, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today named 20 individuals as recipients of the Carnegie Medal. 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, James Russell Jenkins of Columbus, Ohio, died in the performance of his act, by which he attempted to save a 5-year-old boy from drowning in a pond at an apartment complex. The boy broke through ice covering the pond, and Jenkins broke through in his rescue attempt.

The heroes announced today bring to 77 the number of awards made in 2013 and to 9,653 the total number since the Pittsburgh-based Fund's inception in 1904. Commission President Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the 109 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, more than $35.6 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance. The awardees are:

John Bigwood	Fair Oaks, Calif.
Alec Justin Smith	San Jose, Calif.
Alfredo Serrano	Bridgeport, Conn.
Dennis M. Shaw	Bridgeport, Conn.
Richard Brian Andrade	Colorado Springs, Colo.
Joshua H. Meltzer	Bowling Green, Ky.
Nathaniel Bacon	New Hampton, N.Y.
Robert P. Davies	Golden Valley, Ariz.
Keith Knight	Hooksett, N.H.
Scott Frye	Concord, N.H.
William Michael Browne	Wrightwood, Calif.
Jesse C. Garcia IV	Adkins, Texas
James Russell Jenkins, deceased	Columbus, Ohio
Scott E. Teuscher	Roseville, Calif.
Jason R. Ivey	Brookline, Mass.
Philip D. Petr	Blue Hill, Neb.
Michael T. McDonnell	Rockaway Park, N.Y.
Dylan Patrick Smith, now deceased	Rockaway Beach, N.Y.
Vincent Lorenzo Meraz	Escondido, Calif.
Katherine Lee Osiecki	East Hampton, N.Y.

Resumes of the acts can be found at http://carnegiehero.org/awardees. Fuller information on the CARNEGIE MEDAL and the history of the CARNEGIE HERO FUND COMMISSION can be found at www.carnegiehero.org.

Contact: Douglas R. Chambers
Toll free: 1-800-447-8900

SOURCE: Carnegie Hero Fund Commission

http://www.carnegiehero.org