Four UT Air Force ROTC cadets recently received awards for their lifesaving

actions in treating four victims of a car accident.

The Silver Valor Award, one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon

a cadet, was given to Cadet Capt. James Andes, Cadet Maj. Wiley L. Barnes,

Cadet Lt. Col. Victor Beeler, and Cadet Maj. Jon Rucker.

Brigadier Susan Pamerleau, commandant of Air Force ROTC, presented the

award at the Greenmeadows Country Club to the cadets for their act of

“voluntary heroism beyond the call of duty.”

Capt. Matt Woolen, commandant of cadets at the UT ROTC program, said the

cadets stopped to assist victims of a serious car wreck on Papermill Road

on Nov. 1, 1994.

The cadets cut seat belts and pulled mangled wreckage from four unconscious

passengers pinned inside. The cadets started to stabilize the victims and

treat them for shock until medical personnel arrived at the scene, Woolen

said.

After assistance arrived, the cadets helped lift the victims into

ambulances, he said.

“These cadets are a credit to the university and the ROTC program,” Woolen

said. “The big thing we stress is personal responsibility.”

He said the cadets could have driven by the accident and left the

responsibility to others, but they did not. The decisive actions of the

four cadets potentially saved the lives of the victims.

Pamerleau pinned a Silver Valor Award on each cadet and gave each a

citation recognizing his selfless actions with little regard for personal

safety.

Pamerleau told the Knoxville News-Sentinel the cadets are

“representative of the young people interested in coming into the Air

Force.”

Woolen said the UT ROTC program benefits both the community and university

in several aspects.

“For the community, we produce Air Force officers with dynamic leadership

skills,” he said. “For the university, we send people through college on

the ROTC scholarship program.”

Woolen said the Junior ROTC programs for high school students are focused

on citizenship rather than recruiting. JROTC programs are focused on

discipline and “knowing yourself,” he said.

The ROTC program is growing, but more young people are needed badly, he

said.

“ROTC means a guaranteed job out of college,” he said. “It’s a dynamic job

with leadership opportunities.”