11th of 31 NYC DOC Medal Day 2011 NYCHS image pages | xx |
C.O. Russell Simplice stood at attention as the citation that accompanied his DOC Medal of Honor was recited. Then the officer posed with the Chief and the Commissioner in displaying the award. |
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To NYC
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CORRECTION OFFICER RUSSELL SIMPLICE, TRANSPORTATION UNIT
Office Russell Simplice was raking the lawn
at his Queens home on April 3rd when,
he recalls, "I heard a loud screech, then a
'Boom!'"
Officer Simplice says: "I started
walking toward the sound and that's when I
realized what was going on."
Upon getting
a closer look, Officer Simplice noticed five
passengers in a green van pinned to a tree.
There were three young children and two
parents in the van, with one of the children
and the parents in need of immediate
assistance.
Officer Simplice sprung into
action. Ignoring broken glass and other
debris, he worked to open the rear door to
the van wide enough for him to crawl inside
and rescue one of the children.
"I felt this
adrenaline rush and just ran in there and
grabbed her," he says. "A neighbor gave me
a white towel to wrap her in, and I handed
her to my wife. And then I went back in to
help the parents."
Officer Simplice is also
a Private 1st Class with the 14th Brigade
in the New York Guard State defense force
in Whitestone. His training in emergency
preparedness came in handy as he knew that
the most important part of his response was
to keep all of the victims calm until they were
able to get medical assistance.
Indeed, all
the passengers lived after receiving proper
medical care. Not only did he risk his own
life to save a family, he remained humble
throughout, insisting: "I didn’t do anything
special, just what I would expect anyone else
to do."
WEBMASTER NOTE: At Medal Day 2011 ceremonies in the George Motchan Detention Center (GMDC) on Rikers Island Nov. 15th, the NYC Department of Correction honored staff for heroic acts on and off the job, as well as for distinguished and exceptional on-the-job performance and community service. This New York Correction History Society (NYCHS) presentation features images derived from photos taken by NYCHS at the event as well as texts and images scanned by NYCHS from NYC DOC's Medal Day 2011 booklet distributed at the ceremonies. |
Preliminaries, 0 -- 8; DOC medals, 9 -- 15; Mayor's awards, 16 -- 18; Unit Citations, 19 -- 21; union awards, 22 -- 28; benediction, 29; booklet lists, 30 & 31. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||