August 5-9, 2024 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
56 The Postal Record August 2024 On duty or off, letter carrier he- roes generously deliver that “extra service” to the American public ev- ery day, and in doing so they proud- ly carry on a great tradition of deliv- ering for America, six days a week. In 1978, a second category—Hu- manitarian of the Year—was initi- ated to honor letter carriers for significant, sustained personal contributions to a worthy cause. Independent judges—represent- ing the labor community and com- munity service organizations—re- view items published in The Postal Record’s Proud to Serve section to determine the winners. “We are immensely proud of what the heroes being recognized did,” NALC President Brian L. Renfroe said at the Heroes of the Year luncheon in March 2024. “They represent our country’s best in public service. They truly are our heroes.” Heroes of the Year E very day, letter carriers are on the streets in every neighbor- hood of every city in every state. The very nature of their jobs puts them in constant contact with the public. They are, in fact, perhaps the last public servants to make regular rounds and come into daily contact with the customers on their routes. As a result, there are many times when letter carriers are first to ar- rive at the scene of a crisis—an accident, a disaster, a crime—and the first to offer assistance. Or perhaps because of their daily vigilance, a community problem— a child without shoes, increasing substance abuse among neighbor- hood youth, families without food or fuel, a lonely senior citizen who needs cheering up—is recognized and action is taken to provide so- lutions. To recognize these carriers, NALC established the Heroes of the Year Awards in 1974 to pay public tribute to outstanding letter carriers who, ignoring dangers to themselves, perform selfless and heroic acts to rescue those at risk of losing their lives.
National Hero of the Year Philip Moon of Amarillo, TX Branch 1037 On his route in October, 37-year carrier Philip Moon was in his mail truck when he heard a commotion. The carrier saw a customer with her two small dogs under attack from a large dog. Moon, a member of Ama- rillo, TX Branch 1037, jumped out to help. He managed to fight off the at- tacking dog and pull the woman and one of her dogs into his truck. The woman was bleeding badly from dog bites to her left leg. “The whole bottom of the floorboard was fill- ing up with blood,” he said. Moon called 911 and then took off his shirt to use to compress her wounds, which helped stop the bleeding. “Then the dog came back and bit down on her other leg,” he said. The dog forced its way into the part- ly closed door of the truck, forcing them both to fight off the dog as best they could. The woman’s hus- band had heard the struggle and came to help. “Then the dog went after me,” Moon said, biting his shoe and slightly injuring his ankle. “All this time, I’m talking to the 911 operator.” First responders arrived and ani- mal control officers caught the dog while EMTs tended to the victim. Moon drove back to the post office, and that night, he visited the woman in the hospital, where he was told she had passed out twice from loss of blood. “You saved her twice,” police responders told Moon—once from the dog and again from bleed- ing to death. Moon doesn’t consider his ac- tions particularly heroic. “I’ll be honest with you—I was scared to death,” he said. “I was just running on adrenaline.” “Knowing the people I work with, anybody would have done what I did,” he added. “I don’t consider myself a hero.”
Eastern Region Hero Timothy “Tim” Martin of Buffalo- Western New York Delivering packages on New Year’s Eve, Buffalo-Western New York Branch 3 member Tim Mar- tin turned a corner and saw a car on fire in front of a mobile home. Some neighbors were trying to put out the fire by throwing snow on it, but Martin noticed that the technique was not working. Other neighbors were filming the fire with their phones. But then he realized that the fire was spreading to the mobile home. Knowing that an elderly resi- dent with breathing problems lived there, Martin asked the neighbors if she was home. They said yes—but kept filming. The fire was blocking the front door, so Martin rushed to the back of the trailer. He pushed the back door open, but it was held shut with a bungee cord. “Luckily, I’m skinny enough to squeeze through,” he said. He found the home filling with smoke and the woman looking fran- tically for her shoes. “Let’s get you outside,” he told her as he helped her leave the house with her purse and dog. First responders had arrived, and Martin helped the woman find an EMT who could give her oxygen. To avoid blocking the fire vehicles that were coming to the scene, he left in his mail truck, continuing his route. Martin returned a few days later and learned the woman was all right and had been able to move back into the home. In recognition of his heroic ac- tions, his supervisor coined a slo- gan for Martin: “I deliver bills and save lives,” and even made him a superhero cape. It was all in fun, but Martin said he doesn’t feel like a hero. “I just think I’m just a regular guy,” he said. “I was just happy that I could help.”
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