Katherine Adventist Church members Ron and Deslie Green were invested at the Australian Honours and Awards ceremony at Government House in Darwin on September 6.
The husband and wife team were recognised alongside 21 other Northern Territory residents for their outstanding service and contributions to the community.
Mr Green was awarded the Bravery Medal and Mrs Green was given a Commendation for Brave Conduct for intervening in a domestic violence incident outside their home on the early morning of March 15, 2016.
The couple went outside to find a man with a knife harassing a woman. Neighbours claimed to have seen the perpetrator stab Mr Green when he tried to intervene, yet the father of three managed to escape unharmed while the woman received some superficial injuries.
Mrs Green, who was pregnant at the time with their fourth child, was on the phone to emergency services. When the man dropped the knife, she took the woman inside until help arrived.
Despite the noise, the Greens’ children slept throughout the incident. When Mr Green later heard the attacker needed some clothes, he offered to give him some of his own.
Administrator of the Northern Territory Vicki O’Halloran (AO) and New South Wales Governor-General David Hurley were on hand to present the Greens with their awards. Several members of the Greens’ family flew over from other parts of the country for the awards ceremony.
Earlier this year, Mr Green was awarded the Emergency Services Medal as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his ongoing service and contributions to the Northern Territory Emergency Services (NTES) Katherine Unit.
As stated in his official award citation, “The Katherine Volunteer Unit’s ongoing success is a direct result of [Mr Green’s] drive to seek new members and improve operational capability through training, exercises and operations. His natural leadership qualities are displayed whether teaching new and existing members essential skills, or as a team leader providing support to the community.” (Visit the Katherine Times website to read the full citation.)
As well as being an NTES leader, Mr Green is an auxiliary member of the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service, volunteers with St John Ambulance and is a member of the Army Reserve Unit.
