Texan among those honored as Carnegie Heroes

The Associated Press

Winners of Carnegie Hero medals announced Monday:

— Samuel Irick, 44, of Houston, who was fatally wounded rescuing a woman from an armed purse-snatching in November 2010.

— Frederick J. Levesque Jr., 52, of Stafford Springs, Conn., who rescued a 7-year-old girl from a burning apartment in Somers, Conn., in December 2013.

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— Brett Allen Thoele, 36, of Shorewood, Ill., who helped save a man from drowning in Branson, Mo., in June 2013.

— Pawel L. Kruszewski, 28, of Auburn, Maine, who saved three men from a burning vehicle that crashed in September 2013.

— Donald Schaus Sr., 52, of Katonah, N.Y., who saved an 82-year-old man from a burning apartment in Bedford Hills, N.Y., in February.

— Bernard Kozen, 56, of Tobyhanna, Pa., who saved others by subduing a gunman who killed three people at a municipal meeting in Saylorsburg, Pa., in August 2013.

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— Richard Blessen, 45, of Crete, Neb., who saved two 14-year-old boys from drowning after they fell through ice in Duncan, Neb., in December 2013.

— Gregory D. Plancich, 58, and Daniel C. Hardwick, 53, both of Vashon, Wash.; Jim O. Fultz, 48, of Siletz, Ore.; and Wayne Kitt, 35, of Loon Lake, Wash., who all helped save five members of another commercial fishing boat from drowning when it capsized near Kodiak Island, Alaska, in January 2012.

— Clifford Faraci, 43, of Desert Hills, Ariz., who was burned trying to save a woman from a wrecked car in Phoenix, in March 2013.

— Donald E. Thompson, 54, of West Hills, Calif., who rescued a 72-year-old man from a crashed, burning car in Los Angeles in December 2013.

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— Paul W. Mongiello, 57, of Overland Park, Kan., who rescued two workers from a natural gas explosion at a Kansas City restaurant in February 2013.

— Jonathan A. Barthel, 21, of Lake Norden, S.D., who helped save a man and his 9-year-old son from drowning after their canoe capsized in April.

— James M. Kocker, 53, of Poulsbo, Wash., who helped save a man from downing after his car crashed into a pond in Ellensburg, Wash., in October 2012.

— Ronnie Lee Moore Jr., 42, of Hortense, Ga., and John Shannon Gibson, 45, of Woodbine, Ga., who rescued a woman from a burning car that crashed in Waverly, Ga., in October 2013.

— Jeffrey A. Johnson, 48, of North Freedom, Wis., who helped saved a man from drowning while ice fishing in Briggsville, Wis., in April.

lgraham@bizpress.net