Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: April 18, 2002
• Invested on: December 09, 2002

On January 28, 2001, while working as a civilian police officer with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, Sgt. Bouchard, then Cst., used his body to shield a severely beaten man from a vicious mob attack. As ethnic tensions between Serbians and Albanians escalated in the city of Mitrovica, Civilian Police were called to assist other U.N. officers in dispersing an angry crowd. While dealing with this incident, Sgt. Bouchard noted another group of some thirty Serbians viciously assaulting a man with cables and metal pipes. Sgt. Bouchard fought his way through the attacking crowd and lay on top of the bleeding victim to act as a shield. Despite being assaulted and having a pistol fired near his head, Sgt. Bouchard remained with the victim until help arrived to escort the severely injured man to safety.