Slain Chief's Heroic Spirit Far From a 'Forgotten Thing'

First responder agencies from throughout the Seacoast gathered Wednesday to honor a select group of individuals for extraordinary and exemplary heroism while paying respect to a local police chief killed in the line of duty.

Eighteen individuals from four different departments received Heroes in Action awards during the first-ever Chief Michael Maloney Night of Heroes, a night meant to pay tribute to the late Greenland chief and thank those who have helped raise hundreds of thousands dollars for the memorial fund in his name.

Humility and selflessness were large factors in choosing the recipients of the awards, so it was no surprise that all of the award winners were quick to downplay how their individual roles in the incidents that earned them their recognition.

"I'm honored, but guys just do this every day," said Hampton Firefighter Jed Carpentier, who along with Firefighter Kyle Jameson was honored for a daring Hampton Beach water rescue earlier this year. "There were a lot of individuals on duty that day and it was a coordinated effort on everybody's part. Without everybody being on the same sheet of music, we're not here being recognized." 

Carpentier and Jameson talk about their awards and the significance of the Night of Heroes, which was held at The Community Oven in Hampton, in the above video.

Dawn Sawyer, a sergeant in the Greenland Police Department and the secretary of the Chief Michael Maloney Memorial Fund, said the awards were designed to recognize a group of individuals that don't receive or seek out praise, much like the late Maloney, a North Hampton resident who was killed gunned down during a Greenland drug raid in April 2012.

"They are those people who always have gone above and beyond," said Sawyer. "They're the ones in the community always going the extra mile.

"For me personally, when I reviewed the nominations, it's kind of like that selflessness like Chief Maloney [displayed during the Greenland incident that claimed his life]. He went up on that deck and pulled people out to safety to get them to hospitals."

Also receiving Heroes in Action awards Wednesday were:

• Greenland Volunteer Fire Department EMTs Mo Sodini and Rob Holt, whose "quick actions" saved the life of a 60-year-old man who had a heart attack on July 21, 2013. The man's wife performed CPR despite having a broken arm, and the various measures performed by Sodini and Holt were "instrumental" in saving the man.
• Newburyport (Mass.) Police Officer Nora Duggan and Newburyport (Mass.) Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Bradbury, both of whom "placed themselves in extreme danger" numerous times while rescuing a man who nearly drowned in a bog in Maudslay State Park on Sept. 27, 2013.
  
• Dover Fire Captain Paul Haas, Lt. David Hanna, Lt. Michael Druin, and firefighters Craig Comeau, Brian Jacques, Glen Camire, Eric Anderson, Craig Croteau, Scott Orringer, Matthew Furtney, Jenn Myers and Joshua Ambrose, all of whom risked their lives while working together to rescue a 16-year-old girl trapped in her second floor bedroom during a June 6, 2013, multi-family apartment building fire. Two other people and a dog were also rescued.