A Postal Service employee who helped a gunshot victim was one of several heroes honored by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) last week.
Carmichael, CA, City Carrier Assistant Scott Gallegos received the National Hero of the Year Award at a ceremony in Washington, DC.
Gallegos was delivering mail in April when he was approached by a woman who had been shot. He called 911 and shielded her from further gunfire.
“It was kind of intervention that I got that route that day,” Gallegos told the Los Angeles Times after the ceremony.
Other honorees:
- Eugene, OR, Letter Carriers Terrence Graves and Bryce McLean, who detained a suspected thief.
- Plainfield, NJ, Letter Carrier Denice Howard, who helped a customer who fell on ice.
- Akron, OH, Letter Carrier Kizzy Spaulding and Tulsa, OK, Letter Carrier Steve Shipman, who each rescued residents from house fires.
- Gainesville, FL, Letter Carrier Alan Symonette, who rescued a driver whose car plunged into a pond.
- John Curtis, a retired letter carrier from Maine, who wrote a book about the labor movement.
- James Robledo, a retired letter carrier from California, who helps veterans deal with their combat experiences.
The NALC site has more information about each honoree.
