HEADQUARTERS, U.S. ARMY ALASKA, JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – This Friday a U.S. Army Alaska noncommissioned officer will receive the Army’s highest honor a soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation.

Staff Sgt. Joshaua J. Schneiderman of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, will be awarded the Soldier’s Medal during ceremonies Friday at 2 p.m. at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Frontier Theater for his actions in saving a fisherman from drowning in the Copper River in June 2014.

Schneiderman, along with family and coworkers, had traveled to the Copper River on June 14 to dip-net sockeye salmon from the fast-flowing, frigid waters. While showing his wife the process, he saw another angler being swept downriver. Schneiderman ran to his truck to retrieve a life vest, ran back to the river and tossed it to the man. He then jumped into the river and, with his waders filling with water, managed to fight the current to grab the man and pull him to shore.

The Soldier’s Medal, created by an act of Congress in 1926, is awarded for distinguished heroism not involving conflict with an enemy. The performance must have involved personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life. It is the highest honor a soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

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