Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: March 16, 1981
• Invested on: June 19, 1981

Able Seaman Richard Joseph John Broadhead, M.B.
Master Seaman Ernest Alexander Nash, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

On the night of 7 December 1979, two members of the Canadian Forces, MS Ernest Nash and AS Richard Broadhead of HMCS Kootenay, saved a shipmate from drowning in the Fraser River at New Westminster, British Columbia. When the "man overboard" alarm was sounded, they rushed to the jetty and spotted their shipmate in the freezing water. Realizing that he was rapidly losing strength, the two rescuers jumped into the treacherous Fraser River to his aid. In spite of the swirling four-knot currents, they reached the then unconscious victim, hauled him to a log fender some 650 metres astern of the ship where they held him safe until they were all picked up by a sea boat.