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Vol. 136, No. 16 — April 20, 2002
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
CANADIAN BRAVERY DECORATIONS
The Governor General, the Right Honourable ADRIENNE CLARKSON, on the recommendation of the Canadian Decorations Advisory Committee, has awarded bravery decorations as follows:
Star of Courage
SERGEANT HOWARD ANTHONY THOMAS, S.C., C.D.
Shearwater, Nova Scotia
SERGEANT PHILIP CLAUDE TREVOR, S.C., C.D.
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
SERGEANT DORWIN FREDERICK WILLIAMS, S.C., C.D.
Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia
Around midnight, on March 23, 2000, Sgt Thomas, Sgt Trevor and Sgt Williams, then MCpl, were lowered into the Atlantic Ocean to rescue the 12 surviving sailors of a bulk freighter that had sunk off the coast of Nova Scotia, forcing its 31 crew members into the stormy seas. The rescuers were participating in a naval training exercise some 250 nautical miles away when the distress call was received. Although not trained in search and rescue operations, they volunteered to be lowered from two Sea King helicopters hovering in the dark above the six-metre swell. Sgt Thomas was lowered into the debris and oil-covered ocean and tried to reach one victim's side until he suffered a serious back injury when hit by a large wave. When he was hoisted back up, Sgt Williams took his place and continued the search for survivors. For more than one hour, he was tossed around by high winds while moving into position to recover victims. As he reached a group of three clinging to each other, the panicked men forced him underwater several times before he was able to isolate and airlift each of them to safety. He then was lowered into the sea once again to perform one last and difficult rescue of another sailor. Meanwhile, from the other helicopter, Sgt Trevor made eight dangerous descents into the raging seas. Although he was repeatedly dunked and dragged throughout the ordeal and nearly drowned from salt water and oil ingestion, he persevered in his efforts despite weakening strength until he had recovered six men from two life-rafts and the last two survivors still in the freezing water.
Medal of Bravery
ROBERT DENT, M.B.
Duncan, British Columbia
On March 16, 1999, security guard Robert Dent helped three teenagers out of a burning car in Duncan, British Columbia. Mr. Dent was on a routine night patrol when he heard the crashing sounds of the car as it sheared off a power pole, showering the scene with sparks, and landed upside down in a ditch, its engine compartment on fire. Mr. Dent reached the site as the driver climbed out of the ditch. Informed by the man that his three friends were still inside, he scaled down the bank and helped the back passengers out of the smoke-filled wreck. He then crawled inside the car through the driver's door and tried to free a severely injured girl trapped by the dashboard but the flames drove him back. Despite burns to his arms, he leaned inside the car a second time and managed to dislodge the panicked victim and to carry her to safety.
Medal of Bravery
CORPORAL CORY WILLIAM GALBRAITH, M.B.
Borden, Ontario
PRIVATE JAMIN KYLE RAE GEORGE, M.B.
Kingston, Ontario
Shortly before dawn, on July 4, 2001, Cory Galbraith and Jamin George climbed a 43-metre communication tower to rescue a suicidal fellow soldier at the Canadian Forces Base, in Kingston, Ontario. In total darkness, Cpl Galbraith made his way up to the distraught soldier lying on a narrow steel beam near the top. After winning the man's confidence, he convinced him to come down but the soldier soon became agitated and attempted to jump. Cpl Galbraith restrained him by pinning him to the tower with his body. He was attempting to calm him down when Pte George arrived to lend a hand. Without the aid of climbing or safety equipment, Cpl Galbraith and Pte George began their dangerous descent with the struggling individual. Twice during this one-hour ordeal, the soldier managed to elude their grasp and climbed back up several metres before they were able to regain control. Although exhausted, Cpl Galbraith and Pte George inched their way down to the ground where others took over.
Medal of Bravery
TARMO HÄMÄLÄINEN, M.B.
Pickering, Ontario
While vacationing in Cuba, on January 24, 2001, Tarmo Hämäläinen rescued his wife from a shark attack. The couple had gone for a late afternoon swim when the two-metre shark attacked the woman in chest-deep water, some 15 metres from the beach. Mr. Hämäläinen quickly grabbed hold of the dorsal fin with both hands and tried to shake the shark off but the predator maintained its grip on his wife's arm and lunged downwards, pulling her underneath the surface. With the skin on his hands, arms and legs rubbed raw from punching and kicking the shark's scaly body, Mr. Hämäläinen reached for the attacker once again and pummelled it into releasing its hold, only to see it return and clasp its teeth into the woman's back. Although exhausted from the trauma, Mr. Hämäläinen finally succeeded in driving the shark away and pulled his now unconscious wife through the blood-filled waters toward shore until others arrived to assist. She was later flown back to Canada for major surgery.
Medal of Bravery
KENNETH ANTANAS LAMOTHE, M.B. (Posthumous)
Sudbury, Ontario
On August 7, 1999, 32-year-old Kenneth Lamothe saved his three-year-old son from a fiery death in Garson, near Sudbury, Ontario. Awakened by an early morning fire, Mr. Lamothe and his partner jumped out of bed and were met by a wall of intense toxic smoke when they reached the hallway. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Mr. Lamothe instructed the woman to escape through their bedroom window while he raced to his son's bedroom at the back of the house. In zero visibility, he braved the rapidly spreading flames until he found the toddler, then lifted him in his arms and carried him towards the kitchen door. When firefighters arrived, they found Mr. Lamothe's unconscious and severely burned body near the exit, shielding his child from the flames. The young victim survived the ordeal but sadly, Mr. Lamothe died of his injuries five days later.
Medal of Bravery
SUI SANG "SUNNY" LO, M.B.
Vancouver, British Columbia
BOJAN SAVRIC, M.B.
Ladner, British Columbia
On August 2, 2000, Sunny Lo and Bojan Savric rescued a woman from a burning vehicle following a multi-vehicle collision in Richmond, British Columbia. Unable to stop when the rush-hour traffic slowed down to merge into a tunnel, a dump truck pulling a pup-trailer crashed into the line of traffic, killing the driver of the first vehicle. Witnesses to the horrific accident, Messrs Lo and Savric ran to the scene. Hearing the screams of a severely injured woman trapped in the back of the second vehicle, Mr. Savric reached through a shattered window and tried to free the victim pinned under the collapsed front seat of the burning wreck. He was soon joined by Mr. Lo and while others stood by horror-struck, they managed to pull the woman out. Despite burns suffered during their rescue efforts, they carried the woman a safe distance away moments before the vehicle went up into a ball of flames, claiming the lives of the other two passengers.
LGEN (Ret'd) JAMES C. GERVAIS, C.M.M., C.D.
Deputy Secretary
[16-1-o]
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