Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: August 26, 1991
• Invested on: December 13, 1991

Master Corporal Robert James Brown, M.B.
Master Corporal Kevin D. Gignac, M.B.
Captain Charles Lester Grenkow, M.B.
Captain Michael Alan Mayhew, M.B.
Master Corporal Jean Tremblay, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

On May 11, 1990, MCpls. Brown, Gignac and Tremblay and Capts. Grenkow and Mayhew, all crew members of a rescue helicopter, succeeded in saving eleven people onboard a stricken ferry boat off Anticosti Island, Quebec. Under fierce storm conditions, with an extremely low ceiling and near zero visibility, Capt. Mayhew was, nonetheless, able to maneuver his aircraft to a position above the boat and lower MCpls. Gignac and Brown to the deck. Due to a mechanical failure of the main hoist on attempting to lift the first survivor, the crew were forced to resort to a center hatch hoist, a slower and more awkward system. While the ferry pitched and rolled, Capt. Mayhew kept the helicopter hovering above, in constant danger of collision with the vessel's masts and antennae. Two hours after arriving at the scene, and fifteen hoists later, all of the people had been lifted to safety. The helicopter landed in Gaspé with only minutes of fuel remaining.