Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: June 21, 2007
• Invested on: February 29, 2008

Master Corporal Brian Michael Decaire, M.B.
Sergeant Darcy J.L.J. St-Laurent, S.C., M.B., C.D.
Medal of Bravery

On April 26, 2005, search and rescue technicians Master Corporal Brian Decaire and Sergeant Darcy St-Laurent parachuted from a Hercules aircraft during a blizzard to assist a downed aviator who was stranded west of Boland Lake, in the Northwest Territories. In total darkness, they performed a challenging night landing, farther away than projected from the downed helicopter. Despite being buffeted by the extremely high winds, the rescuers walked for an hour, carrying 50 kg of survival gear on their backs, until they reached the stranded pilot. In the most adverse weather conditions, victim and rescuers waited out the storm until they could be extracted from the site by military helicopter five days later.

Sgt St-Laurent was awarded a Star of Courage in 1996 for another search and rescue mission.