Carnegie Medal Awarded for Heroism
A Wilkes County man is among the 20 most recent recipients of the Carnegie Medal, given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save lives of others. Jason Mitchell Norman, 28, of the Rock Creek community was honored for rescuing Linda J. Call, 61, from her burning home on Peden Street in North Wilkesboro on Oct. 26, 2009.
A Carnegie Hero Fund Commission spokesman said medal recipients of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission each receive $5,000 and are eligible for other financial assistance, including tuition for continuing their education.The spokesman said the custom medals are mailed to the recipients.
The latest 20 people recognized bring to 9,432 the total number of awards since the Pittsburgh-based fund’s inception in 1904. Throughout the 107 years since the fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $33.1 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance. About 20 percent of the medals are awarded posthumously.
Awardees are announced four times a year, following meetings of the commission Carnegie’s “hero fund,” administered by a 21-member commission, was charged with honoring those he called “heroes of civilization,” whose lifesaving actions put them in stark contrast to the “heroes of barbarism, (who) maimed or killed” their fellow man.
The commission’s working definition of a hero as well as its requirements for awarding remain largely those who were approved by the founder.
The candidate for an award must be a civilian who voluntarily risks his or her life to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person. The rescuer must have no full measure of responsibility for the safety of the victim. There must be conclusive evidence to support the act’s occurrence, and the act must be called to the attention of the Commission within two years.
The act of heroism must have occurred in the United States, Canada, or the waters thereof (12 nautical miles). Persons not eligible for awards are those whose duties in following their regular vocations require them to perform such acts, members of the armed services and in certain other cases.
A Carnegie Hero Fund Commission spokesman said medal recipients of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission each receive $5,000 and are eligible for other financial assistance, including tuition for continuing their education.The spokesman said the custom medals are mailed to the recipients.
The latest 20 people recognized bring to 9,432 the total number of awards since the Pittsburgh-based fund’s inception in 1904. Throughout the 107 years since the fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $33.1 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance. About 20 percent of the medals are awarded posthumously.
Awardees are announced four times a year, following meetings of the commission Carnegie’s “hero fund,” administered by a 21-member commission, was charged with honoring those he called “heroes of civilization,” whose lifesaving actions put them in stark contrast to the “heroes of barbarism, (who) maimed or killed” their fellow man.
The commission’s working definition of a hero as well as its requirements for awarding remain largely those who were approved by the founder.
The candidate for an award must be a civilian who voluntarily risks his or her life to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person. The rescuer must have no full measure of responsibility for the safety of the victim. There must be conclusive evidence to support the act’s occurrence, and the act must be called to the attention of the Commission within two years.
The act of heroism must have occurred in the United States, Canada, or the waters thereof (12 nautical miles). Persons not eligible for awards are those whose duties in following their regular vocations require them to perform such acts, members of the armed services and in certain other cases.
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