When emergencies struck in two very different places — one on The Citadel’s campus, another at a local beach — cadets from The Citadel relied on their training and instincts to save lives.

The three cadets who stepped up were recognized at parade on Friday, Nov. 7, for their extraordinary acts.

Cadet Gary Boone was presented with The Citadel Medal of Valor for risking his own life to save a man drowning in the ocean at the Isle of Palms County Park in May.

Cadets Jet Galbreath and Braxton Russell were awarded the Andrew Mazur Medal after working together to save a campus employee suffering a medical emergency in September.

The Citadel President Gen. Glenn M. Walters, USMC (Ret.), ’79, presented the awards.

Boone, a junior majoring in Criminal Justice, was working as a lifeguard supervisor for Charleston County’s Ocean Rescue Division when he saw a man who appeared to be drowning. Boone immediately swam out about 30 yards and brought the unconscious man back to shore, where he and his team checked the man’s vitals and found no pulse. They began CPR and rescue breathing, and continued until EMS arrived on scene to provide additional care.

“Through my cadet career, I’ve been in leadership positions both sophomore and junior year,” said Boone. “The main takeaway that I learned from The Citadel that I especially applied that day was just leadership through compassion.”

Earlier that same morning, just by coincidence, Boone had led a training session with the lifeguard team to prepare for a similar situation.

“For two of the guards, it was their very first day on the job, and they excelled in their role. They knew what they were doing, because we just train, train, train on that,” said Boone. “So when we officially handed him off to EMS, we had everything in order so EMS can immediately hop in and start doing their job.”

Though the lifeguards encountered challenges during the rescue, in the end, Boone says it was the training and his team’s coordination that made the difference that day.

“Everything was as we’ve trained, as we’ve drilled, and fortunately he was able to make a full recovery,” he said.

On campus earlier this semester, Galbreath and Russell — both on The Citadel wrestling team — were nearby when a campus employee began to suffer a medical emergency. When the man suddenly fell to the ground, Russell was able to prevent him from hitting his head on the way down and Galbreath, who learned CPR in high school, ran over to help.

“I think that’s just a part of our identity, and what we do every day is doing the right thing,” said Galbreath. “If you see something, take action, do it right and handle the situation. Don’t wait for someone.”

As Galbreath was giving the man CPR and directing other cadets to call 911, Russell ran to get a defibrillator and continued to help Galbreath until an ambulance arrived.

“Jet and I are on the same team and we’re friends, so we work well together,” said Russell. “And I thought, if Jet knows CPR and how to do this, then I’m going to assist him in any way I can. That was really the only thought I had.”

Both Galbreath and Russell said that, after all their training and preparation, the moment was just like when the whistle blows before a wrestling competition.

“We had a duty to another human. We had a duty to another life. We respected life. We respected the value of what was going on in that situation. And hopefully that brings honor on the school, on our team, on our families, on people we’re around. But at the same time, that’s not why we did it,” said Galbreath.

They both say there was a job to do, and their rigorous training as wrestlers had instilled a proactive and resilient mindset.

“Our training in cadet life and the way that we’ve been raised, it’s kind of all paid off and it’s just a great honor to all of our friends and our family and the people that have mentored us and brought us up to be the men that we are today,” said Russell.

Galbreath is a junior Political Science major from Georgia pursuing a contract with the National Guard. Russell, a sophomore Criminal Justice major from Indiana, is pursuing a career in the Army.

To be awarded The Citadel Medal of Valor, a cadet must distinguish him or herself by acts of
heroism, resulting in an accomplishment so exceptional or outstanding as to set
the cadet apart and involve acceptance of danger or extraordinary responsibilities.

The Andrew Mazur Citizenship Medal may be presented to any cadets who
distinguish themselves by an act of outstanding citizenship that goes far beyond the
normal expectations of cadet’s daily life.