Military Deed of the Year 2023 Awards announced
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- Date: 06.12.2024
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In their 27th year, the Military Deed of the Year 2023 Awards, the goal of which is to celebrate the extraordinary actions of soldiers and the commendable efforts of ordinary citizens, know their winners. The laureates received their awards in the presence of top MOD and Armed Forces leaders, service personnel, and guests of honour during a gala evening at the Ministry of Defence in Bratislava.
The Military Deed of the Year Awards celebrate the excellence of Slovak military personnel who send out a strong moral message whilst going above and beyond in their military roles. The Awards also recognise the actions of people who do not work in the Ministry of Defence, but they spread the positive message of the Slovak Armed Forces or promote Slovak military history.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Robert Kaliňák noted that the greatest strength of our Service personnel lies in their unity, cohesion and team spirit. What makes them different and better is the art of putting the team first – because without teamwork soldiers may lose lives in the line of duty. That an individual means a lot and a team even more is both understanding and satisfaction to him, Mr Kaliňák emphasised.
The laureates, nominated by military and civilian personnel and the public, earned the Military Deed of the Year Award in one of the four categories: Rescue of Life, Assistance to the Public, A Friend of the Armed Forces, and Service to the Country. The winners were decided by a panel of MOD judges, led by President and Commander-in-Chief of the Slovak Armed Forces Peter Pellegrini.
In the 'Rescue of Life' category, Lt Peter Jurov from 21 Mech Bn Trebišov took the award for saving the life of a 67-year-old member of a folklore ensemble performing at the cultural house in the village of Hencovce in County Vranov nad Topľou in January 2023. He kept performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with rescue breaths on the man until the ambulance service arrived.
The laureate of the award in the 'Public Assistance' category was Pte Dominik Jurko, Officer Cadet of the Armed Forces Academy Liptovský Mikuláš, for subduing and detaining an attacker with a knife stabbing a 22-year-old student on a Košice - Žilina Intercity Express train on 2 November 2023. After hearing the scream of a young woman in a compartment, he ran to help her. He was joined by another passenger in chasing the attacker and knocking him down to the floor.
The award in the 'Friend of the Armed Forces' category went to Petra Džerengová and Beáta Gottzmanová, both teachers of M. R. Štefánik Primary School in Spišská Belá, for encouraging patriotism and respect for the elderly and veterans, promoting Slovak military history and a positive message about the Slovak Armed Forces, and building civil-military relations.
Also awarded was former airman of 51 Wng Prešov Capt Štefan Veliký, posthumously promoted to Major, who won the 'Service to the Country' category for making a major contribution to enhancing cooperation among the deployed forces and assets of the Air Search and Rescue Service, the Ground Search and Rescue Service, the Fire and Rescue Service Prešov, and the Police Corps Prešov part of the 'Rescue' exercise series. This very well-known exercise series serves to improve the coordination of the Slovak Armed Forces, the Fire and Rescue Service, and the Police Forces on operations to save lives, whether it be saving the victims of a plane crash and other emergencies or finding missing people in difficult terrain.
The Military Deed of the Year Awards celebrate the excellence of Slovak military personnel who send out a strong moral message whilst going above and beyond in their military roles. The Awards also recognise the actions of people who do not work in the Ministry of Defence, but they spread the positive message of the Slovak Armed Forces or promote Slovak military history.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Robert Kaliňák noted that the greatest strength of our Service personnel lies in their unity, cohesion and team spirit. What makes them different and better is the art of putting the team first – because without teamwork soldiers may lose lives in the line of duty. That an individual means a lot and a team even more is both understanding and satisfaction to him, Mr Kaliňák emphasised.
The laureates, nominated by military and civilian personnel and the public, earned the Military Deed of the Year Award in one of the four categories: Rescue of Life, Assistance to the Public, A Friend of the Armed Forces, and Service to the Country. The winners were decided by a panel of MOD judges, led by President and Commander-in-Chief of the Slovak Armed Forces Peter Pellegrini.
In the 'Rescue of Life' category, Lt Peter Jurov from 21 Mech Bn Trebišov took the award for saving the life of a 67-year-old member of a folklore ensemble performing at the cultural house in the village of Hencovce in County Vranov nad Topľou in January 2023. He kept performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with rescue breaths on the man until the ambulance service arrived.
The laureate of the award in the 'Public Assistance' category was Pte Dominik Jurko, Officer Cadet of the Armed Forces Academy Liptovský Mikuláš, for subduing and detaining an attacker with a knife stabbing a 22-year-old student on a Košice - Žilina Intercity Express train on 2 November 2023. After hearing the scream of a young woman in a compartment, he ran to help her. He was joined by another passenger in chasing the attacker and knocking him down to the floor.
The award in the 'Friend of the Armed Forces' category went to Petra Džerengová and Beáta Gottzmanová, both teachers of M. R. Štefánik Primary School in Spišská Belá, for encouraging patriotism and respect for the elderly and veterans, promoting Slovak military history and a positive message about the Slovak Armed Forces, and building civil-military relations.
Also awarded was former airman of 51 Wng Prešov Capt Štefan Veliký, posthumously promoted to Major, who won the 'Service to the Country' category for making a major contribution to enhancing cooperation among the deployed forces and assets of the Air Search and Rescue Service, the Ground Search and Rescue Service, the Fire and Rescue Service Prešov, and the Police Corps Prešov part of the 'Rescue' exercise series. This very well-known exercise series serves to improve the coordination of the Slovak Armed Forces, the Fire and Rescue Service, and the Police Forces on operations to save lives, whether it be saving the victims of a plane crash and other emergencies or finding missing people in difficult terrain.
