P.J. Normile of Forest was honored Sunday for living the Scout oath and using skills learned through his training as a Boy Scout to save the life of a woman during a kayak trip last fall.
Normile, 18, who holds the highest rank of Eagle Scout and is an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 63, received the Heroism Award during the regular morning service at Forest Baptist Church where the majority of the troop’s Scouts attended in support. The award included a medal pinned to his uniform and a certificate.
The son of Gary and Christy White, Normile said he was very reluctant initially to accept the award and have the ceremony. He credited his Scouting experience that prepared him for such situations.
“Honestly, I don’t really feel like I deserve the award because I only did what I was trained to do and what any Scout could do,” Normile said. “Other Scouts in our troop were there too. I feel like after seeing that happen and that there was a problem to solve, they would have the confidence to act the same way if they are in a similar situation.”
Normile, a certified BSA Lifeguard, said that as the situation was developing, he was mentally prepared from all the years he participated in Scout programs.
“When it happened, my training just kicked in and I went through a list of all the things in my mind that I had learned in training. I didn’t think. I just acted, like it was second nature,” Normile said. After everything had calmed down and he had a chance to realize what he had done, the reality set in. “My legs were still shaking and there was a pit in my stomach. I remember thinking ‘Wow, that just happened,’” he said.
Troop 63 traveled to Okatoma River near Seminary, Miss., for its annual kayak trip on August 22, 2020. It was about 4:30 p.m. in swift whitewater conditions, with a water depth of about 10 feet and vertical drops of five feet, when Normile encountered two ladies on the river, and they were not wearing life vests.
“I was in my kayak, keeping it against the bank while the others in the troop hung out on the banks around the rapid. A tandem kayak, with two elderly ladies inside it, came over the rapid. The tandem kayak flipped over and both ladies fell out and were pulled under by the current. I saw one of them weave up and down and she was finally pushed out of the current and was able to get free,” Normile said.
“I watched for the other lady, making sure to stay my distance so that I didn’t pose as an object for the other lady to hit from underneath. A Scout in our troop saw her caught underneath the rapid being pulled under by the current over and over and not getting out,” Normile said.
“I paddled my kayak over following all BSA Lifeguard training guidelines like I had been instructed and shouted for her to grab my paddle. She was unable to hear me due to the rapid. The rapid and the current began to take my kayak under, but she came up beside my kayak and I held it steady as she grabbed the side of it. Fighting the current and the rapid, I paddled both myself and the lady back to the bank, where we were met by her husband and grandchild.”
Scoutmaster Trint Crimm said Normile receiving the recognition for his actions means a lot to the troop.
“It’s a big honor and not a lot of Scouts get it. It was fortunate that P.J. was in the right place at the right time to help someone like that. He lived the Scout oath and law through his actions,” Crimm said. “P.J. goes 110 percent with everything he does, and all of our Scouts are impressed and very proud of him. It’s kids like him that make what we do to support Scouts all worthwhile.”
Michael McCollum, co-chair of the Andrew Jackson Council’s Advancement and Recognition Committee, said Normile was nominated for the honor by the troop leadership and approved by the Council in Mississippi before being reviewed and approved by the national leadership of Boy Scouts of America.
“This speaks to his character and the way that they are running the troop. He could have stood by and watched. He could have looked the other way, but he didn’t. He acted, and he acted properly, to help the lady,” McCollum said. “It was an honor for me to be here to present this to P.J. and meet his troop. They’ve really got a good operation going here.”
