Star of Courage

• Awarded on: June 7, 1982
• Invested on: October 06, 1982

Jackie Chaisson, S.C.
Eric Sparks, S.C.
Star of Courage

In the early afternoon of 9 September 1980, Jackie Chaisson and Eric Sparks were approaching the Hammond River Bridge when they saw an accident in which a fuel tanker collided with a car and rammed it through the railing into the river. The tanker then fell into the river and exploded. Seeing a woman with a child floundering amidst the burning gasoline on the water, Mr. Chaisson and Mr. Sparks ran down to the shore. Meanwhile the injured driver of the car had reached the woman and child who had been her passengers and was pulling them toward shore with great difficulty. Without concern for their own lives, the young men braved the raging inferno, swam out to reach the victims, and towed them out of danger.