Maintenance Man

Department of Transportation

2/11/1973

Special Act Award (Gold)

On February 11, 1973, at 5 a.m., a man came to the door of the Big Sur Maintenance Station and Mr. Ralph Dengates, the Maintenance Foreman, answered it. The man said there was an emergency about five miles south of the station; a car with people inside was stuck in a mudslide and the vehicle was being pushed over the side. Mr. Dengates called Mr. Harvey Robert Huss and asked him if he would go with him to assist the motorists. Mr. Huss did not hesitate and they left immediately. Mr. Huss drove a skip loader and Mr. Dengates followed him in a truck. On the way down, the truck got a flat tire and Mr. Huss continued alone in the dark. When Mr. Dengates arrived at the site later he saw the road had completely washed away and only the top of Mr. Huss's loader was visible above the debris that had come down to rest 300 feet below the road. Later it was reported that the car in danger had been able to get out without loss of life. Mr. Huss did not survive. He was posthumously awarded a gold Medal of Valor for giving all he had to give to help people he thought were in danger.