Silver Medal of Valor Awarded to Ellijay Civil Air Patrol Cadets

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ELLIJAY, GA – Two cadets of the Ellijay Composite Squadron were awarded Civil Air Patrol’s highest decoration – the Silver Medal of Valor – Tuesday, Dec. 16, at a ceremony attended by Georgia Wing and Southeast Region officials as well as local and state dignitaries. Cadet A1C Richard Gage Stephens and his brother c/SSgt Franklin Daniel Stephens received the award from Southeast Region Vice Commander Col. Barry Melton and Georgia Wing Commander Col. Richard Greenwood, who is himself a recipient of the Silver Medal of Valor.

The Silver Medal of Valor, the highest award CAP can bestow, is awarded for “distinguished and conspicuous heroic action, at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of normal duty.”

Daniel and Gage Stephens earned the award for their actions on 28 January 2014 when, while hiking near their home, they witnessed a Ford F-150 pickup lose control on snow and ice covered roads and slide down a mountainside with as much as an 80 percent grade. The driver, 56-year-old Kathy Hall, was struck on the head and thrown down the mountainside while attempting to exit the unstable vehicle.

Daniel and Gage, who has just completed CAP’s first-aid course the week prior to the accident, moved down the mountainside to assist the victim, placing themselves below the unstable vehicle at great personal risk, to render aid. Daniel, exposing himself to below-freezing temperatures, used his coat and gloves to keep the victim warm while his brother Gage went to notify authorities and retrieve blankets.

The inclement weather and poor road conditions delayed emergency responders from reaching the scene for nearly an hour and 45 minutes. Remaining calm throughout the incident, the cadets, along with a neighbor, stayed with the victim, keeping her warm and calm. By the time emergency personnel arrived, the cadets had immobilized the head and spine of the victim, who had suffered a concussion, broken ribs, and a severely fractured thoracic vertebra, an injury that can frequently lead to paralysis or death.

Hall, who is recovering from her injuries and surgery to repair her broken vertebra, attributes an “amazing set of circumstances” and the help of her three neighbors for preventing more serious and permanent injury. “Without them I don’t know what would’ve happened,” she told the Times-Courier of Gilmer County, Ga. “I was in very good hands.”

Article submitted by Capt. Donald Murray, public affairs officer for the Ellijay Composite Squadron.

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