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Sergeant Kenneth James Power

Kingston, Nova Scotia

Kingston, Nova Scotia

Decorations for Bravery

  • Star of Courage

    Awarded on: 1997-08-28
    Invested on: 1998-05-15
    Sergeant Kenneth James Power, S.C., C.D. Master Corporal Gregory Allan Smit, S.C., C.D. Star of Courage On September 24, 1996, Search and Rescue technicians Sgt Power and MCpl Smit rescued four sailors from a sailboat in danger of capsizing in heavy seas in the Atlantic Ocean, off Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The vessel's wildly gyrating mast made a standard hoist recovery impossible, so MCpl Smit and Sgt Power were lowered into the raging sea from a hovering rescue helicopter and battled 6-meter waves to swim to the vessel. Sgt Power evacuated the first two sailors, one at a time, by hooking them to his harness and leaping into the ocean. As they were lifted to safety, they were dragged underwater and slammed several times against the hull. In complete exhaustion and having swallowed a large amount of water, Sgt Power was unable to attempt another rescue. The line was then lowered to MCpl Smit who managed to rescue the third sailor. As he was dropped near the vessel for pick-up of the last sailor, a large wave separated them. MCpl Smit's attempts to hand-signal information to the helicopter crew failed and he was hoisted up without the victim. Although weakened, MCpl Smit mustered enough strength to be lowered again to the man who had drifted away from his boat, and the final hoist was successfully completed.

  • Medal of Bravery

    Awarded on: 2001-06-27
    Invested on: 2001-12-06
    Sergeant Kenneth James Power, S.C., M.B., C.D.* Sergeant Sylvain Joseph Roger Trudel, M.B., C.D. Medal of Bravery On October 3, 1999, Kenneth Power and Sylvain Trudel dived at night from a Hercules aircraft to rescue two men whose Cessna floatplane had crashed into a deep and narrow valley north of Havre St-Pierre, in Quebec. Equipped with night vision goggles, the Search and Rescue technicians located the plane upside down on the shore of a small wooded island surrounded by 600-metre cliffs. Fearing for the victims' lives and with the Labrador rescue helicopter some five hours away, Sgt Power and Sgt Trudel, then MCpl, elected to effect a risky flare-illuminated parachute descent into the rugged and mountainous terrain. Tossed around by the valley's high wind turbulence, they managed to clear the top of the cliffs and the trees and landed a short distance from the crash site. Sgts Power and Trudel then collected their medical gear and cared for the injured survivors until the rescue helicopter arrived to airlift them to safety, some two hours later. *Sgt Power was previously awarded a Star of Courage for his rescue efforts during another incident