Carnegie Medals Awarded to 23 For Extraordinary Acts of Civilian Heroism

PITTSBURGH, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- In its second award announcement of 2010, the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission today named 23 individuals from throughout the United States and Canada as recipients of the Carnegie Medal.  The medal is given to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others, the "heroes of civilization" in the words of Andrew Carnegie, Hero Fund founder.  Three of the awardees lost their lives in the performance of their heroic acts.

The heroes announced today bring to 45 the number of awards made in 2010 and to 9,372 the total number of awards since the Pittsburgh-based Fund's inception in 1904.  Commission President Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their next of kin will also receive a financial grant.  Throughout the 106 years since the Fund was established, $32.4 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.  The awardees are:

Summaries of the heroic acts can be found at http://www.carnegiehero.org/awardees_recent.php. Fuller information on the Carnegie Medal and the history of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission can be found at www.carnegiehero.org

Contact: Douglas R. Chambers,

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SOURCE Carnegie Hero Fund Commission