Three Mich. Men Among 25 Carnegie Hero Medal Recipients

PITTSBURGH (WWJ/AP) - Three Michigan residents are among this year's 25 Carnegie Medal recipients for heroism. The medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

Nineteen-year-old Rickie McDowell of Lincoln Park and 20-year-old Kevin Moss of Southgate rescued two men from drowning in Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan in Petoskey last August.

Forty-six-year-old Timothy Rostar of the Petoskey area rescued a man from an 1,800 pound bull that had pinned him in his barn in April 2009.

Carnegie medalists, or their heirs, receive financial grants. More than $33.7 million has been awarded to 9,477 honorees since the fund's inception in 1904. New recipients are announced four times a year.

Steel baron Andrew Carnegie was inspired to start the fund after hearing rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.

To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal, write the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, 436 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1101, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, or call 800-447-8900. For more information, visit carnegiehero.org.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.