Meritorious Service Decorations - Military Division
Meritorious Service Medal
Awarded on: 1998-12-21
Invested on: 1999-09-10
Co-recipient: Lieutenant(N) Andrew Eric Walsh, M.S.M., C.D.
On December 8, 1995, Petty Officer 1st Class McMillan and Lieutenant Walsh were tasked to provide assistance to the B.C. Provincial Emergency Program Emergency Coordination Centre. They were dispatched to a hospital in Terrace, British Columbia, where they were exposed to a highly sensitive and unstable explosive chemical that could detonate due to any shock or friction. Petty Officer 1st Class McMillan and Lieutenant Walsh determined that the risk to patients was high and that the hazard would have to be removed manually to a suitable disposal site. Hampered by extreme weather conditions which greatly increased the chance of detonation, they removed the contaminated material and explosive chemical from the hospital onto a transport vehicle. Arriving at the disposal site, Petty Officer 1st Class McMillan handed the volatile material to Lieutenant Walsh who carried it to a safe detonation point. Both Petty Officer 1st Class McMillan and Lieutenant Walsh placed their lives at grave risk to ensure the safety of patients who could not be moved. Their actions clearly exceeded the normal call of duty, and their courage and professionalism were in the highest tradition of the principles upon which the Canadian Forces prides itself.