Sailor awarded medal for helping save man who crashed

NEWPORT NEWS

A sailor stationed aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson on Thursday was awarded a medal for helping save a sailor who was thrown into the Chesapeake Bay in a motorcycle crash.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Murphy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal in a ceremony aboard the Carl Vinson, which is docked at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard.

Two former sailors who helped in the rescue also received awards. Murphy met with reporters outside the shipyard after the ceremony.

“I was definitely amazed that I was receiving such a high medal, but very proud that I could be part of something to deserve this,” he said. “I was glad to be in the right place at the right time.”

The medal is awarded to service members who distinguish themselves by heroism or for actions that risk their own lives, the Navy said.

It is the second highest non-combat medal the Navy awards to service members. Recipients include President John F. Kennedy and Master Chief Carl Brashear, the first black Navy master diver.

The crash happened about 3:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 22.

Murphy, 24, of Jacksonville, Fla., was in a vehicle on westbound Interstate 64 with Petty Officer 3rd Class Edgar Ardon, of Glen Oak, Calif., and Petty Officer 3rd Class Elisandro Leal, of League City, Texas. Leal was driving.

Brian Anthony Davis, of Grand Rapids, Mich., blew by them on a motorcycle before he lost control on a curve just before the tube of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. Davis was a sailor stationed aboard the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The motorcycle he was operating hit a wall and Davis was thrown into the water alongside the bridge-tunnel complex.

They saw Davis’ helmet floating in the water and then saw his body floating face down, Murphy said.

Murphy and Ardon climbed down the wall onto rocks, swam about 25 yards out to Davis and brought him back to the rock barrier. Ardon did chest compressions on him and the unconscious man began to breathe before paramedics took him to a hospital.

The three rescuers later met Davis and his family. Davis’ wife sent the rescuers an e-mail late last year saying her husband was recovering, Murphy said.

Rear Adm. Arthur J. Johnson, commander of the Naval Safety Center, awarded Murphy with the medal, which he wore on his uniform on Thursday.

Ardon, who has left the Navy, is receiving the same medal and Leal, who also has left the Navy, was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal last year, said Lt. j.g. Arlo Abrahamson, a public affairs officer for the Carl Vinson.

Murphy enlisted in the Navy in March 2005 and reported aboard the Carl Vinson in June 2006. He is a maintenance technician for the ship’s self defense system.

Murphy said Thursday that saving a life didn’t sink in at first for him and the other two rescuers – they just acted as they were trained.

“I’m just glad that I could help somebody out,” he said.