Medal Recipient Search
Shawn D. Fields, Stone County Sheriff’s Office
2018 Class
Awarded on: 10/07/2019
Medal of Valor
On July 19, 2018, Sergeant Fields was off-duty and working security at the Showboat Branson Belle. At approximately 7 p.m., while Sergeant Fields was on an upper level entry platform, a severe storm with near-hurricane force winds quickly developed. Observing that a tourist duck boat was in trouble as it attempted to return to shore against the 70 mile per hour winds and heavy waves, Fields ran down a set of stairs and across the deck to the back of the showboat, positioning himself beside the paddle wheel. Sergeant Fields notified dispatch that the duck boat was sinking and that he was going into the water in a rescue attempt. Fields removed his duty gear and handed it to a Branson Belle employee. He then stripped down to his pants, grabbed a life jacket and, without concern for his own safety, dived into the turbulent water. Fields helped pull multiple people to safety and, unfortunately, removed several victims who did not survive the tragedy in which 17 people died. In the midst of a dangerous, unrelenting storm, Sergeant Fields took immediate and decisive action. Without specialized equipment, he bravely risked his own life by jumping into roiling Table Rock Lake to save lives.
Marlin V. Matchett, nominated by Taney County Ambulance District
2018 Class
Awarded on: 10/07/2019
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On July 19, 2018, Mr. Matchett was on the Showboat Branson Belle working as part of the first aid team when a severe storm with high winds and heavy waves sank a tourist duck boat near the showboat. Mr. Matchett, a trained paramedic with decades of EMS experience, quickly called for additional help. He then began rescuing victims by pulling them from the water onto the showboat. Using his extensive EMS experience, he helped triage the injured and also coordinated and directed other civilians who were working to assist the terrified victims. When a young victim was in cardiac arrest, Mr. Matchett performed CPR until ambulance personnel arrived and took over the desperate and ultimately unsuccessful effort. During a catastrophic event, Mr. Matchett heroically worked to help save multiple lives.
Daniel B. Tscherny, Jason G. Bogema, Tony C. Fields, Joshua W. Bravestone, Zachary L. Keller, Garett L. Olson, Tyler R. Nevins, and Dustin C. Matney, Springfield Fire Department
2018 Class
Awarded on: 10/07/2019
Governor's Medal
At approximately 8:15 p.m. on September 7, 2018, during extremely heavy rainfall and flash flooding, Greene County Deputy Sheriff Aaron Paul Roberts radioed that his vehicle had been washed off a road in northern Greene County. The Fair Grove Fire Protection District was dispatched and informed that the vehicle was floating down Cabin Creek in swift water conditions. There had been no further contact with the deputy. Because of its water rescue capabilities, the Springfield Fire Department was immediately requested to assist. High, rushing water from the intense storm had inundated a bridge in the area, and the roiling creek and debris had pushed 100 yards beyond its banks. There was no sight of Deputy Roberts’ vehicle as the flooding worsened. Battling darkness and these dangerous conditions, firefighters and Greene County Sheriff’s deputies began searching for Deputy Roberts. Because the area was so heavily wooded, boating operations were terminated. Aircraft could not assist due to the weather conditions. With the water still rising, a foot search was conducted along both sides of the creek. After more than two hours, Deputy Roberts’ patrol vehicle was spotted about 450 yards downstream. Conditions still prevented boat operations. Despite the lack of contact with Deputy Roberts, the darkness, and extremely dangerous conditions, the Springfield team was determined to reach the vehicle in an effort to rescue the deputy as quickly as possible. In the darkness, the rescue team tied off to trees and utilized rope lines. The effort required a skilled team risking their own lives in a lengthy, highly technical operation. Working as one, the team of Rescue Specialist Tscherny, Captain Bogema, Firefighter Fields, Firefighter Bravestone, Firefighter Keller, Firefighter Olson, Firefighter Nevins, and Firefighter Matney reached the vehicle and recovered the body of Deputy Roberts. The Springfield team was nominated by Fair Grove Fire Department Chief Erich Higgins, who had first established command at the scene and was moved by the team’s courage and concern for a fellow public during the hours-long effort.
Jeremy E. Bratton and Kyle B. Schmidt, St. Charles Police Department
2018 Class
Awarded on: 10/07/2019
Medal of Valor
On December 28, 2018, at six minutes before midnight, 911 received a desperate call for help. A dispatcher heard gunshots, and then the female caller went silent. As the first St. Charles Police Department officers approached the house where the 911 call originated, a white Chevy pickup was pulling away. Officers radioed a vehicle description. The officers made a forced entry into the locked single family residence and discovered three victims dead from gunshot wounds and a 39-year-old woman mortally wounded. As officers administered first aid to the victim, a shots fired call rang out over the police radio. Officers Bratton and Schmidt had seen the pickup leaving the subdivision and activated their lights and siren. The suspect initially fled, and then stopped. As Officer Bratton shouted verbal commands, the suspect, Richard Emery, fired repeatedly at Officer Bratton. Bratton’s patrol vehicle was hit multiple times, but, miraculously, Bratton was not hit. Officers Bratton and Schmidt returned fire but the gunman was able to flee on foot into the darkness. Police launched a search. A short time later, a woman was stabbed seven times in a failed carjacking attempt. Almost seven and a half hours after the first 911 call, a man was found bleeding profusely in the restroom of a St. Charles gas station. Officers quickly took the wounded Richard Emery into custody. Emery’s abandoned pickup had contained an assault-style rifle, magazines, and boxes of ammunition. Officers Bratton and Schmidt had fearlessly engaged a violent, heavily-armed gunman suspected in four killings. The officers’ shooting and wounding of Emery ultimately led to his capture and the end of the threat to the community.
Private Louis Bollasina, Private Paul Clark, Captain Larry Conley, Private Marquis Hayes, Captain Michael Hostetler, Private Joe Johnson, Private Tim Mahnken, Private Patrick O’Brien, Private Patrick Pollihan, Captain Bryan Radley, Private Dave Ray, Private James Reynolds, Private Jeff Ronshausen, Private Dale Schultz, Private Tim Schultz, Battalion Chief Gary Steffens, Private Galen Taylor, Private John Vallero, Captain Joe Waring, EMT Andrew Beasley, Paramedic Daniel Goldfeld, Paramedic Dustin Lammert, EMT Antuan Knox, Paramedic Supervisor Colin McCoy, Paramedic Cameron Morton, EMT Nicholas Spiess, EMT Norman Walker, Paramedic James Wilson and Fire Equipment Dispatcher Angela Williams, St. Louis Fire Department
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Governor's Medal
Shortly before 2 a.m. on Jan. 24, 2017, the St. Louis Fire Department was dispatched to a two-story, two family flat in north St. Louis that was on fire with multiple people trapped. Because of the extreme danger, multiple fire and EMS companies were dispatched to the scene, all of them made aware that a quick and coordinated search of the building was essential. On the scene within four minutes, firefighters learned several members of one family, including children, were trapped on the second floor, where the fire was burning. As firefighters climbed the stairs, they located the first victim on the stairs, unconscious and barely breathing. The victim was carried out of the burning building and resuscitated on the front lawn. Fighting high heat, flames and near zero visibility, firefighters conducting a coordinated search would locate another adult and five children on the burning second floor, all of them unconscious and in respiratory arrest. All of the victims were quickly removed from the building and revived. St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson has said that in his 40 years in the fire service he has never seen a more coordinated and heroic search and rescue with such a positive outcome.
Charles Barney and Sandra Straw, nominated by Missouri State Highway Patrol
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On Feb. 7, 2017, during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County, Trooper Beau Ryun, of Troop A, observed the driver he had stopped reach into his waistline as he approached Trooper Ryun’s patrol car as instructed. Trooper Ryun had the driver place his hands on the patrol car and frisked him, finding a pair of scissors in the driver’s waistline. The driver refused to follow Trooper Ryun’s instructions and began to fight with him. Trooper Ryun’s handcuffs fell to the ground and were out of reach as he struggled with the driver on the ground. He was unable to radio to inform headquarters of his situation. It was then that two motorists stopped along the interstate and approached. Sandra Straw was already on her cell phone with 911, requesting additional officers, as she approached. Ms. Straw lay on Timmons legs in an attempt to control him and wound up being kicked in the face. The second motorist, Charles Barney, was now on the scene and Trooper Ryun asked him to retrieve his handcuffs. Trooper Ryun also instructed Mr. Barney on how to use his radio to advise Troop A of the situation. Mr. Barney then helped with the effort to restrain the driver. This assistance allowed Trooper Ryun to reach and use his pepper spray on the driver. With the assistance of Ms. Straw and Mr. Barney, Trooper Ryun was able to handcuff the driver. Ms. Straw and Mr. Barney both could have kept driving on Interstate 70. Instead, they both chose to put themselves into a dangerous situation and came to the aid of a trooper, who was able to make an arrest with their assistance.
Ryan Windham, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Public Safety Medal of Merit
On March 6, 2017, Trooper Windham was on routine patrol on southbound Interstate 57 in Mississippi County when he observed a motor vehicle that was missing a front license plate. Trooper Windham followed the vehicle and activated his lights and siren. The driver refused to stop. A pursuit ensued and ended when the driver slid of a roadway. As Trooper Windham approached the stopped car, the front seat passenger fled on foot. The back seat passenger exited and began firing a handgun at Trooper Windham. Trooper Windham returned fire and moved toward the rear of his patrol car for cover. The suspect fired at least six rounds, three of which struck Windham’s vehicle, one hitting the vehicle’s spotlight, directly in front of Trooper Windham. A manhunt later took place and all three occupants were taken into custody without incident. All three were convicted felons and members of a violent gang with outstanding warrants for their arrests. Trooper Windham’s attention to detail and bravery under fire resulted in the apprehension of these violent offenders.
David Watkins, Jr., Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Medal of Valor
On March 10, 2017, a team from the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office was serving a search warrant to a convicted felon suspected of narcotics trafficking at a second-story apartment in Wyatt, Mo. Lieutenant Watkins had the lead as the team announced their presence and breached the apartment door. Lieutenant Watkins entered the front door and immediately took fire from the suspect. Other members of the entry team were forced to take cover on the ground outside. Shot in the left leg, and trapped in the apartment with the gunman, Lieutenant Watkins crawled into a nearby room. Unable to stand, he sat against a wall. Outside, his team called for Lieutenant Watkins. Watkins did not answer so as not to reveal his position to the gunman. The gunman, still armed with an AR-15, walked to the front door, where officers were taking cover, and looked outside. He then turned and saw Lieutenant Watkins and began raising his weapon. Lieutenant Watkins fired his weapon striking the gunman in the upper torso, ending the threat to him and the other officers. Watkins then staggered to his feet and held the gunman at gunpoint until his team members took control of the scene. While under fire and while wounded, Lieutenant Watkins demonstrated incredible courage while trapped inside an apartment with a gunman.
Leon Whitener III, St. Louis Fire Department
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Medal of Valor
On April 22, 2017, a call went out for a structure fire with a person trapped in St. Louis’s Botanical Heights neighborhood. The closest fire station was responding to an earlier reported fire, so there would be a delay in the first company’s arrival. Captain Whitener, who was off duty, immediately responded. He found thick gray smoke pouring out of the two-story residential building. Residents outside the building told him a wheelchair-bound tenant was trapped on the second floor. Captain Whitener charged into the building and up the stairs without any protective equipment. He was followed by a tenant from another unit in the building, Raymond Rayford. The smoke was filling the hallway. Smoke billowed into the room where they found the woman in her wheelchair. She futilely covered her face to try to block out the smoke. Captain Whitener knew time was short because the smoke was building pressure in the room. They pushed the wheelchair to the apartment doorway but furniture blocked the exit. Mr. Rayford threw the furniture out of the apartment to clear a path. Whitener and Rayford then hoisted the wheelchair over the stair railing and down the stair, careful to protect the woman. Once outside, they heard glass shattering. The fire had grown tremendously and was now venting itself out of the room from which they had just rescued the woman. Captain Whitener’s swift and decisive action while off-duty resulted in the rescue of an elderly disabled woman who could not have survived on her own.
Raymond Rayford, nominated by the St. Louis Fire Department
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On April 22, 2017, a call went out for a structure fire with a person trapped in St. Louis’s Botanical Heights neighborhood. St. Louis Fire Department Captain Whitener, who was off duty, immediately responded. He found thick gray smoke pouring out of the two-story residential building. Residents outside the building told him a wheelchair-bound tenant was trapped on the second floor. Captain Whitener charged into the building and up the stairs without any protective equipment. He was followed by a tenant from another unit in the building, Raymond Rayford. The smoke was filling the hallway. Smoke billowed into the room where they found the woman in her wheelchair. She futilely covered her face to try to block out the smoke. Captain Whitener knew time was short because the smoke was building pressure in the room. They pushed the wheelchair to the apartment doorway but furniture blocked the exit. Mr. Rayford threw the furniture out of the apartment to clear a path. Whitener and Rayford then hoisted the wheelchair over the stair railing and down the stair, careful to protect the woman. Once outside, they heard glass shattering. The fire had grown tremendously and was now venting itself out of the room from which they had just rescued the woman. Mr. Rayford’s actions were selfless and his assistance to Captain Whitener critical in the heroic effort to save the life of a trapped wheelchair bound woman. Though an untrained civilian, Mr. Rayford not only displayed concern for human life and a willingness to help a neighbor, but fearlessness and skill during a rescue in which he put his own life at risk.