Medal of Bravery

• Awarded on: September 15, 2011
• Invested on: February 24, 2012

Corporal Joseph Léandre Mickaël Couture, M.B.
Medal of Bravery

On September 13, 2009, Corporal Mickaël Couture voluntarily risked his life to rescue the injured driver of a burning vehicle, in Afghanistan. The military vehicle was carrying ammunition at the time it was hit by an improvised explosive device. Once the dust from the explosion had settled, four of the passengers escaped and ran for shelter. Corporal Couture, who had been in another vehicle, heard that the driver was still inside the burning wreckage. Without a thought for his own safety, he ran to the vehicle, dodging ammunition as it fired off in all directions from within the truck. He quickly located the driver, pulled him out, and dragged him a safe distance away. Even after he realized that the driver had died from the ordeal, Corporal Couture chose to stay with the body, shielding it behind a wall, out of the path of flying projectiles.