Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: July 20, 1972
• Invested on: June 22, 1973

Corporal Robert Lester Harris, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

Cpl Robert Lester Harris, 22, although badly burned himself, rescued his comrade from the fire that resulted when the truck in which he and a colleague were driving was forced off the road and turned over. On December 15, 1966, Cpl Harris, with his co-driver, was in charge of the last in a group of army vehicles travelling from Rimouski to Gaspé. On a curve just west of Marsoui, they were forced off the road by a car that had trouble negotiating the turn. The truck ended up on its side at the foot of an embankment, its load of gasoline and lubricants on fire and leaking into the cab. Cpl Harris, his clothes in flames, managed to get out through the windshield and clear of the truck. He stumbled into a pool of water which smothered the flames on his gasoline-soaked clothes. The co-driver had managed in the meantime to get out of the cab, but collapsed, clothes and hair on fire, beside the burning truck. Cpl Harris made his way through the heat and flame to his co-driver's side and dragged him clear. He tore off his comrade's burning clothes then beat out the flames on his head and neck with his hands. When other people arrived on the scene, they found the two men struggling to help each other climb up the embankment to the road.