Master Corporal (now Chief Warrant Officer) Bryan Keith Pierce, , a technician of the Canadian Forces search-and-rescue, received the
Cross of Valour, the highest Canadian award for acts of
courage
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...
in circumstances of extreme peril, on September 18, 1998, along with Sergeant
Keith Paul Mitchell Sergeant Keith Paul Mitchell (now Chief Warrant Officer), CV, MMM, MSM, CD, a Search and Rescue technician with 413 Search and Rescue Squadron in the Canadian Forces, received the Cross of Valour, the highest Canadian award for acts of courage ...
.
On November 12, 1996, Sergeant Mitchell and Master Corporal Pierce carried out an unprecedented parachute jump at night from a
Hercules aircraft
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
into freezing
Arctic waters to provide medical aid to a critically ill fisherman on board a Danish
fishing trawler located near
Resolution Island,
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
.
With inadequate
flare illumination, Sergeant Mitchell and Master Corporal Pierce
parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
d towards where a
Zodiac boat was supposed to have been launched to pull them from the sea. Extremely strong winds carried the two men away from the vessel and landed them in freezing three-metre waves. Because of the heavy seas and severe icing conditions, they were unable to swim to the trawler. About 15 minutes later, with the men close to
hypothermia, the ice-encrusted Zodiac finally reached them. They made it to the trawler, where they immediately treated the ill sailor and saved his life.
On January 3, 2007, parachute rescue team leader Warrant Officer Pierce and team member Sergeant Harrison performed a perilous procedure in a parachute jump to help a critically injured aircraft passenger, at Blatchford Lake, in the Northwest Territories. In the face of severe weather conditions, both performed a low-altitude jump, where the slightest error could have had catastrophic results for the team. The extraordinary level of professionalism demonstrated by Warrant Officer Pierce and Sergeant Harrison under these difficult circumstances brings great honour to the Canadian Forces and to Canada. For these actions, then-Warrant Officer Pierce and Sergeant Harrison were awarded the
Meritorious Service Cross (Military Division).
In 2010, he was appointed as a
Member of the Order of Military Merit (MMM).
References
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Canada)
Members of the Order of Military Merit (Canada)
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