Heroism Award

One of the great things about being Council President is that I am able to participate in events that recognize our Scouts and Scouters for their accomplishments. Wednesday night at Camp Lowden was one of those opportunities. I was able to present to one of our scouts, Josh Jahnke, a Heroism Award. These Heroism and Meritorious Service types of awards are bestowed by the National Council when a scout or scouter renders a service utilizing the skills and training that we provide through the BSA program. Below is Josh with his mom, Jane, and dad, Jason.

To receive one of these awards, an application must be filed and approved by the National Council. This is only the second such award in our council over the past three years. Below is Josh's story.

On August 14, 2008, Joshua Jahnke, age 13, and his aunt, Jorie Hess, went sailing on Crystal Lake, in Crystal Lake, Illinois. While sailing, they passed a canoe carrying a boy from Joshua’s troop and his father, Zach and Charlie Wirth. Zach, age 11, stood up in the canoe to wave back to Joshua, thus causing the canoe to tip over throwing the boy and his father in the water. The depth of the lake at this point was 10 feet and they were about 50 feet from shore.

Having canoeing and lifesaving merit badges, Joshua left the sailboat and swam over to the canoe to help right it, a distance of about 10 feet. As Joshua got closer to the canoe he saw that Mr. Wirth did not have his PFD on and that he was having trouble swimming and was starting to panic. Mr. Wirth was not a good swimmer and was tiring fast. He was wearing heavy clothing and shoes that added to his difficulty in swimming. Joshua retrieved Mr. Wirth’s PFD and took it to him. Joshua talked to Mr. Wirth assuring him that everything would be alright. This helped to calm Mr. Wirth down.

Bystanders on the shore observed what had happened and called 911. Two construction workers that were working on a building ran to help with the rescue. One swam out to the canoe with a cord and the other one stayed on the dock to pull them in. Because the cord was not long enough, Joshua pulled Mr. Wirth to the cord. Mr. Wirth was pulled to the dock. As Mr. Wirth made it to the dock, the paramedics and rescue team arrived. Mr. Wirth was checked out and he was fine.

Zach Wirth floated and treaded water during this time. He swam back to the dock with his father. Joshua swam back to the canoe and brought it back to shore.

Because of Joshua’s training in aquatics skills and lifesaving through the Boy Scouts, he kept a clear head, knew what to do, and executed a successful rescue.