Letter Carriers Recognized as Heroes of the Year

News provided by

National Association of Letter Carriers

Sep 23, 2011, 04:07 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Keith McVey, a 30-year letter carrier in Akron, OH who saved the life of a man who was unconscious in the back of his pickup truck, has been named the 2011 "National Hero of the Year." McVey, a former firefighter and emergency medical technician, pulled the man from the truck and, upon realizing that he wasn't breathing, performed CPR until paramedics arrived – McVey's third time saving a life.

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Several other carriers from around the country were announced today as heroes for their deeds. They represent thousands of letter carriers who not only deliver the mail to 150 million households six days a week, but often assist in situations involving accidents, fires, crimes or health crises.

John Conde of Wilmington N.C., a carrier and military veteran who served two tours in Iraq, was named National Humanitarian of the Year for assisting in 30 surgeries during a volunteer mission to the Dominican Republic. Regional winners were Paula Johnson of Lynchburg, VA, who saved a 95-year-old woman from a fire; David Bartaway of Trenton, MI, who alerted police to a man he saw peering into and then trying to break into homes; Dustin Lawson of Shawnee, OK, who rescued customers from an armed robber in a pharmacy; and Laura Garibaldi of Norwalk, CA, who saved a man and his daughter who were trapped in their car in water.

We can provide more information and/or put you in touch with these carriers as well as local fire or other authorities involved in these incidents. These NALC Heroes of the Year will be honored by Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, at a special luncheon ceremony Sept. 29 at the Washington Court Hotel on Capitol Hill in Washington.

The NALC represents letter carriers across the country. Its 280,000 members make it the largest of the four unions representing employees of the United States Postal Service. Founded by Civil War veterans in 1889, the NALC is among the country's oldest labor unions.

SOURCE National Association of Letter Carriers