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On behalf of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee, the Harry S. Truman Chapter awarded Mr. Julio Gonzalez with the Medal for Heroism at the 356th Meeting on Saturday, March 14, 2015. President Robert L. Grover and the Harry S. Truman Chapter Color Guard officiated during the ceremony. All Harry S. Truman Chapter members congratulated Mr. Julio Gonzalez after the presentation.

NSSAR Medal for Heroism Presentation
Presented to Julio Gonzalez
On Behalf of the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee
356th Meeting
Harry S. Truman Chapter
Independence, Missouri
Saturday, March 14, 2015

On behalf of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee:

“Julio Gonzalez has been awarded the Medal for Heroism in recognition of outstanding bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of imminent danger, thus exemplifying the high ideals and principles which motivated and sustained our patriot ancestors."

On the morning of November 7, 2014, Megan Dillard of Kansas City’s Fox 4 News, responded to cover a report of a person trapped on a burning house in Kansas City, Missouri. When she arrived she saw a man visibly shaken, Mr. Julio Gonzalez.

Fox 4’s Megan Dillard filed this report:

“An Act of Heroism!”

A mothers’ screams-a neighbor’s quick reaction, smoke and flames pouring out of a Kansas City home, she reported.

That was the scene Friday morning in the 3700 block of Roberts Street. Firefighters answered the call of a person trapped on a roof shortly after 10 a.m. When first responders arrived, the mother had been helped to safety, but smoke and flames were pouring out of the two-story home. Maria Herrera said she was upstairs folding her sons’ laundry when she saw smoke and flames coming up the stairs. She realized her two boys were trapped downstairs, and climbed out of a window onto a ledge to scream for help.

“I saw the smoke coming upstairs. And I tried to go downstairs to get my kids but, it was too late,” she said Her neighbor, 25 year old Julio Gonzalez, and two other men were standing outside. That’s when they heard and saw the woman’s pleas for help. Ms. Herrera screamed, get my sons outside please. Mr. Gonzalez said he was very scared, but used his elbow and fist to punch through a first-floor window. “I saw the kids screaming, yelling; and I went inside. I broke the window and I took them out.”.

“The quick-responding man took the kids, five-year-old Anthony and three-year-old Mikey, outside to safety. He says he and his brother and a friend then backed his pickup truck to the front of the house so Ms. Herrera could jump from the ledge to safety, where she joined her two boys on the side of the street. The boys’ father, Adrian Grimaldo, was at work. “I was helpless. I was miles away. She gave me a call frantic, I felt for the worse, and I rushed home. Dropped all my tools; dropped everything that I was doing. Rushed home,” the father said. He embraced the man he says he doesn’t even know, saying in Spanish, “Todo mi vida. Todo mi vida. Translated-My whole life. My whole life.” Grimaldo said, “We usually keep to ourselves over here. I’m just thankful that they came and saved my kids’ lives. I owe my life to them.”

“Kansas City Fire Department Battalion Chief Gary Wait said “When we showed up, we had heavy fire coming from the windows of the first and second floor, and smoke could be seen all the way to 20th and Carson.”

“The father said, “We’re just going to have to pick up from ground zero. I don’t care about material, none of that matters to me. My house is nothing. Just my family”.

“He is my hero, my kids’ hero. For real, if it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what would’ve happened,” the grateful mother said. Paramedics transported the mother and boys to a hospital where one was treated for minor burns.”

Mr. Gonzalez recently told Chairman Dewey Fry, George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee, that he was scared at first to go into the burning house but knew he had to get the children out. Afterward he realized how dangerous it was and shook for nearly an hour. No one knows if first responders could have saved the children from the fire, but for certain they would have sustained severe injuries had Julio Gonzalez not heroically, placed his own life at risk in rescuing the two young boys. In addition, two men that helped Julio Gonzalez in the rescue were his brother Mr. Juan Gonzalez and friend Mr. Jesus Ramirez.

The Sons of the American Revolution has stringent requirements for this Award. The medal recognizes outstanding bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of imminent danger, acts which involve great personal courage and risk to the recipient.

On behalf of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee, the Harry S. Truman Chapter awarded Mr. Julio Gonzalez with the Medal for Heroism at the 356th Meeting on Saturday, March 14, 2015. President Robert L. Grover and the Harry S. Truman Chapter Color Guard officiated during the ceremony. All Harry S. Truman Chapter members congratulated Mr. Julio Gonzalez after the presentation.

Mr. Julio Gonzalez stated that he was very proud in receiving the Medal for Heroism for saving the children. He thanked the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the George Washington Birthday Celebration Committee for this award.

Left Photo (L - R): Compatriot John Stewart; Mr. Jeses Ramiez; Mr. Julio Gonzalez (Awarded with the NSSAR Medal for Heroism); President Robert L. Grover; Compatriot Roy Hutchinson; and Compatriot Perry Dean “Bud” Marks; Jr.
Right Photo (L - R): Compatriot John Stewart; Mr. Jeses Ramiez; Mr. Julio Gonzalez (Awarded with the NSSAR Medal for Heroism); President Robert L. Grover; Compatriot Roy Hutchinson; and Compatriot Perry Dean “Bud” Marks; Jr. (Not in photo).