Recipients of Carnegie Hero medals

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005 | 1:42 a.m.

The 21 people who were named Carnegie Heroes by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission:

-Robert Diaz, 46, of Huffman, Texas, and Miranda A. Elkins, 22, of Gainesville, Texas, helped rescue Hedilberto Martinez Jr., 18, from the Gulf of Mexico at South Padre Island, Texas, on Aug. 20, 2004. Diaz drowned in the attempt.

-Donald James Miller, 48, of Port Moody, B.C., who was shot at while helping 34-year-old Martina H. Seymour escape from a man trying to abduct her in Port Moody on Aug. 9, 2004. Miller approached the two when Seymour ran into the street. Her assailant shot at her repeatedly, striking her. Miller got back into his car, shouted for Seymour to get in and drove away with her as a bullet shattered a car window.

-Stephen F. Coenen, 53, of New Orleans, saw Michael Williams, 36, being robbed at gunpoint and assaulted late on Dec. 7, 2002. Coenen threw his bicycle at the assailants, one of whom shot Coenen in the chest. Coenen's injuries included a collapsed lung and he required a two-month convalescence.

-John Glenn Dubois, 43, of Regina, Saskatchewan, rescued neighbors Rochelle M. Rose and her 4-year-old son, Thomas L. Giles, from a knife-wielding assailant on June 19, 2003. The armed man broke into Rose's house and threatened to kill her. Dubois, a disabled man, saw the break-in, used a wooden broom handle to enter Rose's house, forced his way into the bedroom and then struggled with the assailant, eventually pinning him to the floor with the broom handle. Dubois has since died.

-Security officer Steven Glenn, 32, of Las Vegas, came to the aid of Kathryn A. Atkinson, 56, and Susan H. Rhodes, 54, when they were attacked by a man armed with three knives at a county social services office in Henderson, Nev., on Dec. 10, 2002. Glenn saw Atkinson get stabbed by the man, who then stabbed an unarmed Glenn in the chest. The man then stabbed Rhodes twice. Although injured, Glenn helped fight off the assailant until police arrived.

-Bryce Stetler, 26, of Plover, Wis., pulled 1-year-old Savanah B. Swartz from a burning SUV following a two-vehicle crash in New Hope, Wis., on Sept. 20, 2004. Stetler heard Savanah cry, opened the rear door and, despite the intense heat, flames and smoke, pulled Savanah out. The child's grandmother, who was driving, died in the accident.

-Paul J. Moore, 34, of Tacoma, Wash., saved 11-year-old Andrey Melnichenko from drowning in Ilwaco, Wash., on Aug. 16, 2003. Moore was camping when he heard Andrey and his father shout for help as they struggled in the Pacific Ocean about 150 feet from shore. Moore pulled Andrey to shore but when he returned to help the father, he could not be found.

-Camron Erway, 33, of Larned, Kan., rescued Lawrence D. Frizell, 49, on Dec. 10, 2004, from a burning house in Larned. Erway saw the flames as he was driving by, ran into the house and pulled out an unconscious Frizell.

-Michael Redice, 48, of Charlotte, N.C., was delivering mail in Charlotte on April 16, 2004, when he heard 8-year-old Roddie P. Dumas Jr., screaming for help as four adult pit bulls attacked. Redice threw his mailbag over the fence to distract the dogs, then grabbed a piece of wood, jumped the fence and swung at the animals until they retreated.

-Clifton Anthony, 44, of Las Vegas, saved 6-month-old neighbor Matthew Arrigoni, who was in his parents' living room when the apartment caught fire on Dec. 19, 2003. Anthony was asleep when he was alerted to the fire by the child's mother who had escaped through a window. Anthony kicked in the front door and, despite having little visibility due to the smoke, crawled to the playpen and pulled the infant to safety.

-Christopher P. Meehan, 33, of Manassas, Va., died while rescuing an 11-year-old from drowning in Woodbridge, Va., on July 27, 2003. Meehan was at a picnic when the boy and five others were carried away in the Potomac River. Meehan swam out, grabbed the 11-year-old and handed him to a man on a personal watercraft.

-Elvin Leo Troxler, 67, of Ellerbe, N.C., died after helping to save his 11-month-old granddaughter, Summer, who was trapped in an SUV that rolled down a steep lawn and into a pond in Ellerbe, on Jan. 4, 2005. Troxler swam out, hoisted himself onto the SUV so the passenger side tilted up, thereby allowing Summer's mother to open the door and pull the child out. Troxler was then seen floating face down and died five days later in a hospital.

-Terence Michael Wiles, 46, of Luzerne, Mich., and Joshua L. Belanger, 22, of Clio, Mich., rescued two young brothers from a burning house in Luzerne on Sept. 14, 2004. After smoke repulsed Wiles' attempts to get into his neighbor's house, he climbed onto a one-story extension, broke a window to vent the upper level, then entered and pulled a 12-year-old boy out. Belanger, an off-duty sheriff's deputy, also rushed in and, despite the heavy smoke, pulled out a 10-year-old boy.

-Aaron S. Meyer, 26, of Cameron, W.Va.; Jack Cain, 44, of Wind Ridge, Pa.; Brent M. Wharry, 27, of Moundsville, W.Va.; Steven M. Cook, 27, of Glen Dale, W.Va.; and Donald M. Kline, 32, of Morehead, N.C., helped rescue Richard F. Brumley and Benjamin L. Bair after a mine explosion that killed three others in Cameron on Jan. 22, 2003. When neither Brumley nor Bair could be moved without further injury, Meyer and Cain went to the surface and asked for help. Sheriff's deputies Wharry and Cook, and paramedic Kline, who had never been inside a mine, volunteered.

-D. Brent Martin, 36, of Cincinnati, pulled 79-year-old Lillian L. Gubser from her burning car in Cincinnati on Nov. 18, 2004. Gubser's car hit a fuel pump at a gas station and flames spread under the car. Martin ran to the car, opened the passenger door and pulled Gubser out.