Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: February 25, 1974
• Invested on: February 14, 1975

Herman Marcheterre, M.B., Sept Iles, Qué.
Alain Ruest, M.B., Les Boules, Qué.
Medal of Bravery

Herman Marcheterre and Alain Ruest rescued a man whose boat capsized in the St. Lawrence River on October 18, 1972. The man and a companion were duck-hunting in the vicinity of Boule Rock Island when their motorboat was swamped by a huge wave and he was thrown overboard. He succeeded in regaining the boat and climbed aboard but it was so filled with water that the two men decided to turn the craft over and cling to the bottom. During the next couple of hours, the other man became exhausted and was swept away but the victim tied the boat rope around his chest and succeeded finally in getting the attention of someone on shore. Help was summoned and Alain Ruest and Herman Marcheterre undertook the rescue in a ten-foot rowboat which they found pulled up on the shore. After twenty minutes of hard rowing against the strong current and wind, they reached the victim who was then semi-conscious. They lifted him aboard and made the hazardous trip back to shore.