HONOLULU (AP) — The National Boy Scouts of America is honoring a Kailua cubmaster and an 8-year-old boy scout for their help during a deadly Waimanalo Osprey crash.
Cubmaster Lisa Peddle Smith received the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms during a ceremony Thursday, KHON-TV reported (https://bit.ly/1Z2seHQ ). The award is the highest heroism medal awarded by the Boy Scots of America.
Scout Kainoa Hepfner was given the Meritorious Action Award Medal, which honors those who have performed an outstanding act of service.
Peddle Smith and Hepfner had been at a weekend Cub Scout camp on May 17 when the Osprey crashed with 22 people on board. Hepner and his sisters had been watching the Osprey take off and land when it went down. The young boy rushed to get Peddle Smith for help.
“They immediately took me to the scene, and I had to climb a barbed wire fence which the Marines threw a flak jacket over and I got up and over it telling them that I was a nurse,” Peddle Smith said. “At that time the Osprey was in pieces, on fire. There were munitions going off and small explosions.”
Peddle Smith, a nurse, assisted Marines from the wreckage and administered CPR.
“We had to move back like three times due to the explosions and the munitions firing, which I didn’t realize,” she said. “I had heard popping noises going off during this whole time, but I didn’t know that it was munitions.”
Peddle Smith said she was not afraid during the incident and knew that she had to act.
“I didn’t think. I wasn’t scared. I didn’t feel brave. I just knew that it was the right thing to do. I knew I could help,” she said.
The crash killed Lance Cpl. Joshua E. Barron, 24, of Washington and Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Determan, 21, of Arizona.
