A USPS employee recognized in 2015 through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program recently received another prestigious honor for his heroic act.
Arlington, VA, Administrative Judge Peter F. Pontzer was awarded the Carnegie Medal, which recognizes acts of outstanding civilian heroism.
Pontzer was vacationing with his family on the North Carolina coast when two teenagers became endangered in rough surf. Pontzer and Duncan Harris — a U.S. Marine from Illinois who was also awarded a Carnegie Medal — rescued one of the swimmers and required medical treatment for their efforts.
Pontzer and Harris were among 93 Carnegie Medal recipients in 2016.
The medal is given by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, which has recognized nearly 10,000 individuals in the United States and Canada since 1904 for risking their lives while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
Pontzer told the Chicago Tribune he was surprised and honored by the Carnegie Medal, “but I’d like to think most people would do the same thing.”