PITTSBURGH, June 24, 2019—A high school teacher sprang into action when she was alerted to a 14-year-old student with a gun in her school’s cafeteria, a 16-year-old boy on his lunch break from his grocery store shift entered a 65-degree river after seeing a man struggling in the water, and, in two separate incidents, men died after entering the rough Atlantic Ocean after seeing children carried away from shore and calling for help. These are just four of the 15 Americans and three Canadians recognized in this class of Carnegie heroes.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today recognized these 18 civilians for risking their lives while trying to save others from perilous, life-threatening situations including Van L. Anderson, who pulled a 3-year-old girl from the wreckage of a violent accident in which acid was pouring from a tanker into the pickup truck where she was located, and Marvin George Dixon and Jose L. Casanova, who restrained and disarmed a woman who was stabbing and choking a police officer.
The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. With this second announcement of 2019 recipients, a total of 10,099 Carnegie Medals have been awarded since the Pittsburgh-based Fund’s inception in 1904. Commission Chair Mark Laskow said each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant. Throughout the more than 115 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $40.9 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.
Summaries of the acts to follow. To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete a nomination form online or write to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. More information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at carnegiehero.org. Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/carnegiehero and Twitter: @carnegie_hero.
The awardees are:
- Perneice L. White, Gretna, Va.
- C. Kemp Littlepage, Devon, Pa.
- William Bostic, King of Prussia, Pa.
- Van L. Anderson, Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Julie K. Callaghan, Chilliwack, B.C.
- Ryan Scott McIlwain, Douro-Dummer, Ont.
- Marvin George Dixon, Cromwell, Conn.
- Jose L. Casanova, New Britain, Conn.
- Kenneth Raye Gooch, Jr., deceased, Powells Point, N.C.
- Michael S. Chandler, Stafford, Va.
- Raul Carrillo, Derby, Kan.
- Troy Martin, Santa Paula, Calif.
- Stephen Anthony Eberle, Ivoryton, Conn.
- James R. Carroll, Middletown, Conn.
- Troy E. Strickland, deceased, Scottsburg, Va.
- Taylor Rod White, New Harbour, N.L.
- Andrea L. Harris, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Angela Lynn McQueen, Mattoon, Ill.
Resumes of the acts follow. To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, complete a nomination form online, write the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission at 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or call 1-800-447-8900 (toll-free). More information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at carnegiehero.org. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.