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On Wednesday, June 2nd, Mayor Bill de Blasio and FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro presided over the annual FDNY Medal Day Ceremony at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens.
“Medal day is always the best day of the year, and this year we’re doing it twice! This past April, we held our 2020 Medal Day celebration, which was postponed nearly a year due to the pandemic, and now today, we’re celebrating our members once again, this time for their heroic acts in the last year. When I listen to the many acts of valor recounted on Medal Day, I couldn’t be prouder of our members. Heroically, you advance forward through intense heat and smoke, you respond to each call for help that comes your way and provide outstanding medical care, no matter the dangers to yourselves, you always go to help. 2020 threw every challenge possible at our EMTs, Paramedics, and Firefighters and all of you, our medal recipients, those here in attendance, and all our members watching us now from home, you rose to meet those challenges head on. In a year that was filled with such sorrow and loss, these are stories of both bravery and hope and a reminder that no matter how dark the times may be, how difficult the challenge, or dangerous the situation, the FDNY will always be there. Thank you all for ensuring that the FDNY continues to be the best that it can be, the greatest Fire Department in the world,” said FDNY Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro.
The event honored 70 FDNY Firefighters, Paramedics, EMTs, Fire Marshals and Officers for their life-saving work in 2020.
The FDNY Foundation would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all of the brave men and women of the FDNY and to those who were honored at the Medal Day Ceremony.
Some of this year’s medal recipients included:
Firefighter Abraham Miller of Ladder Company 23 who was awarded the Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci, Jr. Medal, the highest award for bravery to a firefighter for his incredible rescue of a child trapped by fire in September. In careful coordination with Firefighter Jairo Sosa of Ladder Company 34, who is awarded the John H. Prentice Medal, Firefighter Miller descended from the roof of a six-story building and pulled a child from the growing smoke and flames.
Firefighter Brian Quinn of Ladder Company 30 was awarded the Walter Scott Medal for rescuing a trapped occupant in a similar fashion from another fire in September, and he and his fellow members in Ladder Company 30 also receive the World Trade Center Memorial Medal for their heroic efforts.
Emergency Medical Technician Gary Hui of the Medical Equipment Unit and Emergency Medical Technician Samuel Wright of Station 59 were awarded the Christopher J. Prescott Medal. This is the highest award given annually for members of EMS Operations. EMTs Hui and Wright were presented this medal for their daring rescue of a driver trapped inside a dump truck that crashed into multiple vehicles and a utility pole. Together, they removed the occupant seconds before flames engulfed the vehicle, then began medical care and transported him to the hospital.
The Dr. Harry M. Archer Medal is awarded every three years to one of the members who received our highest honor for fire operations during the preceding three years. This year, the Archer Medal was awarded to Lieutenant Michael (Mickey) Conboy of Rescue Company 3, who rescued a man and a young boy from a Bronx fire in December 2017. Lieutenant Conboy performed those rescues with determination, under punishing conditions, on the floor above a serious fire in a wood-frame private dwelling.
The EMT-P Carlos Lillo-Lt. Ricardo Quinn Medal is also awarded every three years to deserving members from EMS Operations who were recipients of the Christopher J. Prescott Medal. This medal was awarded to EMS Lieutenant Joshua S. Rodriguez of EMS Division 2 and Paramedic Niall C. O’Shaughnessy of EMS Station 4 for their bravery while providing pre-hospital care to four injured construction workers at a Manhattan scaffold collapse in November 2019.
In September 2017, Engine Company 302 received the Lieutenant James Curran/New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation Medal for displaying outstanding teamwork while extinguishing three floors of fire in a South Queens private dwelling fire that required multiple rescues by members of Ladder Company 155. They operated until complete exhaustion and in the greatest tradition of the FDNY. Engine Company operations are key to the success of every fire operation, particularly one in which lives hang in the balance. For their extraordinary display of teamwork, Engine Company 302 is being awarded the Lieutenant James Curran/NYFFs Burn Center Foundation/Father Julian Deeken Memorial Medal, which signifies the most deserving unit medal during the previous three years. This year’s recipients are Lieutenant (now Captain) Gregory S. Damato, FF Christopher M. Armstrong, FF Christopher Cavalcante, FF James R. Terry (Ladder 158) and FF Kerron V. Ware.
Once again, the FDNY Foundation thanks and congratulates the 2021 Medal Day recipients. Thank you for your service, sacrifice and dedication to the people and City of New York.
To view the full ceremony, please visit: bit.ly/2021FDNYMedalDay
To view more photos from the ceremony, please visit: http://bit.ly/2Rimm4A
To download the 2021 FDNY Medal Day book, please visit: http://on.nyc.gov/3uDkuRC
