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Davis Journal

Brothers receive Carnegie Medal for heroism

CENTERVILLE—The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awarded two brothers with the Carnegie Medal for risking their lives last summer to rescue a pilot and his passenger from a burning plane after it crashed in Centerville.

The award is North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism. Lyle Berglund and Bradley Jay Berglund were among 18 people selected to receive the medal. 

Lyle Berglund, a 32-year-old Roy contractor and his 34-year-old brother Bradley Jay Berglund, a contractor from Syracuse saw the plane crash as they were driving nearby on June 25, 2020. They ran 1,000 feet to the scene and Lyle Berglund stepped onto the wing and grasped one of the occupant’s arms despite smoke and flames coming from the nose of the plane, according to a release. The blistering heat drove him back but he returned and after Bradley Berglund released the man’s seatbelt the two pulled him from the wreckage and dragged him away from the fire.

The brothers returned to the wing and Bradley Berglund reached into the cockpit and released the other occupant’s seatbelt. They pulled him from the plane and dragged him to safety. The plane’s occupants retired Davis County Let. Jason Sorensen and his friend Andre Kostrzewa later died from their injuries. Both brothers were treated for second-degree burns but have since recovered.

According to the Pittsburgh-based Fund Commission, “the Carnegie Medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who enter mortal danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.” A total of 10,220 medals have been awarded since the Fund started in 1904. Each recipient or their survivors will receive a financial grant. More than $42 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance throughout the 117 years since the Fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.