Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: July 20, 1972
• Invested on: June 08, 1973

Herman Girard, M.B.
Charles Edouard Simard, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

Charles E. Simard, 42, and Herman Girard, 24, helped rescue victims trapped in the cabin of a light aircraft that crashed and sank in Lac St-Jean near Roberval. On August 6, 1966, Messrs. Simard and Girard were among the crowd at the 12th international swimming marathon at Roberval. They were unacquainted with one another and were watching from different vantage points. In mid-afternoon when the first swimmers were nearing the finish line, a light aircraft crashed several hundred feet off shore where the water was 15 feet deep. The tail of the submerged aircraft remained showing just above the surface of the lake. Boats and swimmers began converging on the scene where gasoline from the crashed plane was spreading on the surface of the water. Messrs. Simard and Girard, who remained unaware of each other until after the rescue was over, were among the first to arrive on what was already a scene of some confusion. Mr. Simard dove down beside the aircraft, forced the twisted door of the cabin open, and managed to drag a young girl out of the plane and bring her to the surface. Mr. Girard also dove down alongside the crashed aircraft and he too managed to reach into the cabin and extricate another young passenger who was then brought safely to shore. Both men tried but were unable to reach other victims. Of the six occupants of the aircraft, the two young girls they rescued, as well as a woman who had been similarly rescued by an RCMP officer were the only survivors.