Star of Courage

• Awarded on: September 29, 1986
• Invested on: December 05, 1986

Early in the afternoon of 23 January 1986, Pastor Gordon William Sonnichsen pulled two babies from a burning apartment. Alerted that rescue attempts had failed, he smashed a window and entered the bedroom where the children were trapped. In zero visibility he crawled through thick, oily smoke in search of the victims but was soon forced back to the window for air. Undeterred by the toxic fumes, he returned, but could not find the little girls. He stumbled out and was advised that the babies were in a crib against the north wall. On his hands and knees, he felt his way along the walls and located one child on his third attempt, carried her to the window and lifted her out. As minutes passed, holding his breath became more difficult but Pastor Sonnichsen persisted and was able to remove the other child. Unfortunately, the badly burned victims later died in hospital.