A couple from Bath proudly talked for the first time about their hero son, after he was awarded the military's second highest possible award for bravery in a non-combat environment.
Ed and Theresa Russell's son Anthony will soon receive the George Medal for his efforts to rescue the crew of a stricken yacht in stormy seas 75 miles off the Isle of Scilly three summers ago.
The winchman was based at RNAS Culdrose at the time, but has now returned to his native Somerset and is based at Yeovilton.
But while Sergeant Anthony Russell gets all the plaudits for risking life and limb to save others, his biggest fans are in Twerton. And they know where his desire for a military career began – on the windswept heaths of Dorset.
"He was about ten and we took him and his brother to Bovington to the tank museum," said Mrs Russell. "He loved it, pointed at a tank and said 'I am going to drive one of them one day'. It wasn't 'I want to', it was 'I am'."
Now 42, and with children of his own, the former Culverhay school pupil left the classroom at 16 and signed up with the Royal Artillery.
He moved around the Armed Forces, and was successful wherever he went – including a time in the SBS, in between the bulk of his career in the Marines.
"He'd come back home and I'd ask him about things, and he always said he could never tell us anything – even his own dad," said proud father Ed. "Once he was driving with a couple of other guys from Dorset up to Herefordshire, and they stopped in at our house for a cup of tea.
"The three of them walked in, carrying a big metal box, like an ammunition box, put it down in the living room and sat there having a cup of tea around it.
"I asked what it was and he said he couldn't tell me, but under no circumstances could they ever leave it in their vehicle.
"I did hear once or twice about things he got up to, but he's very modest.
"He told me once about a drugs bust they did on a boat off Land's End after it happened, but all the secrets are safe with him. He's always been quite single-minded. He was a popular lad as a child, he had lots of friends, but he knew his own way, even then," he added.
Sergeant Russell spent more than half an hour in raging seas to pluck stricken yachtsmen to safety on a winch from a rescue helicopter, and was even sent underwater when one man panicked. The citation of his medal, which is rarely given in non-combat zones, said his actions were a "remarkable example of human altruism and bravery".
"We only heard last week about the George Medal, and we're really very proud. We couldn't tell anyone about it, but now we can. He's very modest about it, and he's just our boy, so it's great," he said.
