NT man to be honoured with bravery medal
Kennedy Jones was a quiet young man.
He was only 25 when he disappeared after jumping into the flooding Sandover River to try and save his older brother who had fallen in near Atheleye Station in the Utopia region of the central Northern Territory.
On Monday Kennedy will be honoured with a bravery medal by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove for his actions on January 9, 2010, when his brother, in trying to cross the river, had jumped from an overhanging tree branch into the water and was swept downstream.
Kennedy ran alongside him for about 100 metres before entering the churning water to try reach him.
His brother was located dead about 22km downstream, and Kennedy has never been found.
"The water was going fast, dangerous, bad one," his uncle Fred Jones told AAP.
"(Kennedy) was good man, quiet one. We can't find him now, we don't know where he is."
He said the family couldn't perform a burial ceremony for Kennedy without his body.
This year is the 39th of the Australian Bravery Decorations, which represent the highest level of recognition that can be accorded for outstanding achievement and service in national life.
Kennedy Jones is one of 22 people who will be awarded a bravery medal, and one of three who died in the course of trying to save another person's life. Eleven people will receive a group bravery citation, one will be honoured with the Star of Courage, and 44 others will be commended for brave conduct, including Anthony Thomas Haynes.
On August 6, 2000, he and three others were crossing a gangway at Fort Hill Wharf in Darwin to visit the catamaran HMAS Jervis Bay, when it overbalanced, throwing all four into the air.
They hit the side of the ship before falling eight metres into the water below, and a woman, suffering life-threatening injuries, was found floating unconscious, face-down in the water.
A critically injured Mr Haynes reached her and kept her afloat along with another seriously injured man until they were rescued.
