The American Towman Medal is awarded on Festival Night to towing professionals who put their life at risk in the endeavor to save another life. The Towman Commendation is awarded for Couragious Professionalsim Under Fire in the endeavor to save a life. Festival Night is sponsored by the Jerr-Dan Corporation. Jerr-Dan is the Official Tow Body of the American Towman Medal. International Trucks is the Official Chassis of the American Towman Medal. The Towman Medal and Commendation is presented by American Towman Magazine.
Special Thanks To The
TOWMAN MEDAL SPONSORS:
Dealing with a truck sitting in an unstable position on its side and leaking gasoline, Allan Cook of Woods Towing (Moneta, VA) did his job securing the truck. He raised the truck just enough to get the driver onto a backboard and slide him out from under.
About to leave an accident scene Javier Villalobos watched a car roll over a guard rail and down an embankment into a canal. Javier jumped into the canal, helped pull the driver through the broken driver’s side window and swam him back to the canal bank. Villalobos is a Safety Patrol Operator for Martin Petroleum Corp. Snapper Creek, FL.
In an accident on I495 Christopher Ferreira, Christopher’s Towing, Chelmsford, MA risked running across the freeway to find the victim lying in two feet of snow. He aided the injured man until a medivac helicopter arrived.
Richard Allin of Allin Brothers Towing, (Beachville, Ontario) rescued a man who was trapped beneath a lawn mower in a ditch, his arm almost totally severed.
A woman lost control and knocked down a column of gas pumps. The gas pumps were knocked off the island and across the lot into another island of pumps as her car exploded into a ball of fire, igniting over 50 feet of concrete"
Steve Mark Weathers of Mauldin Body Shop (Canton, GA), a certified CPR instructor, executed a jaw thrust and C-spine to open the woman’s air way and immobilize her from further injury.
Ricky Austin, Frankie Ray and Brad Cochran of Mauldin’s were seconds away with fire extinguishers taken off their tow trucks. All three placed themselves between the burning gas pumps and the victim, pushing the fire on the ground back to the pumps, thus containing the flames.
Rusty Whitten of Eagle Towing & Recovery (Dothan, AL) ran to the accident scene that set one car afire. He hooked up the car that had been struck and towed it away from the burning car. The accident caused two deaths, but Whitten’s action saved the lives of a father and his two children.
Eric Schnorrbusch of H&K Auto Body Repairs (Stewartsville, NJ) rapelled down 200 feet of a steep, icy embankment to reach a pickup truck that had finally landed on its roof, trapping the driver inside. He rapelled down this embankment more than once, playing the lead role in a successful rescue effort.
Travis True, when six years old, rode shotgun in the company tow truck when it hydroplaned and rolled over down an ambankment, throwing the driver out of cab, severely injured. A smashed-up Travis called into dispatch and twice went up to the road to flag passing cars. His efforts saved the life of the tow truck driver. True’s Towing Service of Dowagian, Michigan, and the town itself, proclaimed the six year old a hero. At eleven years old this past November, Travis received the American Towman Medal, becoming the youngest person ever to receive the honor.
Spiderman
Phil Stepp, Ponderosa Towing, Mariposa, CA
It’s never too late to honor a hero. The following account was written by Frank Walker for the Mariposa Gazette.
22 years ago the Mariposa County Fairgrounds was host to an event which involved a fly-in by hang gliders that were to land on the field in front of the grandstand.
A gust of wind blew a hang glider pilot into a power line feeding a fairgrounds floodlight, snapping the powerline. Waving wildly, it sprayed a trail of sparks that started a grass fire and melted the aluminum framework of the hang glider. With the hang glider twisted around the light pole and the flyer dangling in his harness, a Towman seemingly came out of nowhere, clambered up the pole while dodging the flailing, live power line, and grabbed the flyer with one hand while cutting him loose with the other. The Towman was Phil Stepp, Ponderosa Towing, Mariposa, CA
