2 Locals Named Carnegie “Heroes”

Two South Jersey residents joined 20 others as the people honored with medals for heroism Thursday by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

The Carnegie Medal was awarded to Thomas St. John Harding, 51, of Mays Landing, N.J., for his rescue of Police Officer Steve Felice from an assault in Elmer, N.J., in April 2011.

John Nash Hale, 59, of Toms River, N.J., was recognized for rescuing Jeffrey Lenox from attacking pit bulls in Toms River in January. Hale and Lenox both survived bite wounds from the dogs.

Harding and Hale were honored alongside a man who drowned while helping to save a young girl off the coast of South Carolina. Jeffery Scott Dinkins drowned off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in July 2011. A girl, 6, and her father were wading in the Atlantic Ocean when they were caught in a current that swept them into deeper water.

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Dinkins, 41, swam 150 feet offshore, took the girl from her father, and started to swim toward the beach. As Dinkins began to struggle in the strong currents others helped the girl and her father to safety. But Dinkins lost consciousness, and couldn't be revived. Dinkins was from Lewisville, North Carolina.

Another winner was Brian D. Lozier of Sterling, New York. Lozier, a 23-year-old carpenter, who rescued a farmer from a 1,100 bull that had attacked him in Cato, N.Y.

Other medal winners honored were from New Jersey, California, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas, Tennessee, Maine, Rhode Island, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Minnesota, Virginia, and Ontario and Saskatchewan, Canada.

Carnegie medalists or their heirs receive financial grants approved by the commission. More than $35 million has been awarded to 9,633 honorees since the fund's inception in 1904. New recipients are announced four times a year.

Steel baron Andrew Carnegie was inspired to start the fund after hearing rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, based in Pittsburgh, says its mission is to recognize people who perform heroic acts in civilian life and to provide financial help to those disabled, or to the dependents of those killed, by their heroism.

Here are the rest of the Carnegie Medal Awardees:

• William Smith, 31, of Fairview, N.J., saved Stanislau J. Kavalsky from burning in Hackensack, N.J., in February 2012.
• David B. Mayo, 45, of Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada, helped to save Marcian G. Cotter from drowning in Penetanguishene, Ontario, in August 2011.
• Marcelino M. Orozco, 44, of Long Beach, Calif., rescued Apolinar Correa from assault in Bellflower, Calif., in August 2011.
• Clarence M. Brooks Jr., 44, of Highland Village, Texas, helped to save David D. Baker from drowning in Highland Village in March 2012.
• Kevin Pratt, 31, of Milwaukie, Ore., saved Wayne L. Howe from drowning in Portland, Ore., in March 2012.
• Nicholas A. Hays, 16, of East Wenatchee, Wash., saved Quennia Calixto-Negrette from drowning in Wenatchee in May 2012.
• Bradley A. Bowman, 35, of Mablevale, Ark., helped to save Cynthia L. Brady from burning in Dallas in February 2012.
• James Philip Snider, 50, of Clarksville, Tenn., saved Tyler J. Farrow, Matthew S. Williams and Amy R. Stringer from burning in Clarksville in August 2011.
• Peter Weatherford, 52, of Clarksville, Tenn., tried to rescue Jackson H. Amos from burning in Clarksville in August 2011.
• Steven M. Enns, 28, of Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, saved Brent A. Mortimer and a boy from burning in Estevan in May 2012.
• Jeremy Day, 38, of Sidney, Maine, helped to save a girl from burning in Windsor, Maine, in November.
• Patrick J. Rimoshytus, 43, of Warren, R.I., helped to rescue Carolyn Corbett from burning in Warren in December.
• John Cody Clark, 17, of Vancouver, Wash., helped to save a boy from drowning in Rockaway Beach, Ore., in July 2012.
• Christopher E. Williams, 35, of Gallipolis, Ohio, saved Samuel L. Dust, 3, from burning in Gallipolis in October 2012.
• Thomas R. Nielsen, 43, of Louisville, Ky., and James B. Terry, 51, of Jeffersonville, Ind., saved Irmagene S. Lambert from burning in Louisville in January 2012.
• Pierre Johnson, 33, of Brooklyn Park, Minn., saved Audrey A. Stewart from burning in Brooklyn Park in May 2012.
• Warren L. Wood Jr., 45, of Crozet, Va., rescued Jessica M. Lewis and Amber L. Johnson from burning and tried to save Michael W. Johnson in Crozet in November 2011.