Medal Recipient Search
Mason Griffith, Herman Police Department
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
At about 9:30 p.m. on March 12, 2023, Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith and Officer Adam Sullentrup responded to a disturbance call at the Casey’s convenience store on Highway 19 in Hermann. When the officers arrived, both were shot by a gunman, who was wanted for multiple outstanding felony arrest warrants. The officers returned fire, but the gunman fled. He was captured the following day after barricading himself in a house. Detective Sergeant Griffith was shot in the chest and died from his injuries at Hermann Area District Hospital. Griffith, 34, also served as the Chief of the Rosebud Police Department and was known for being accessible to residents at all hours and had a history of deescalating many situations in which individuals were experiencing behavioral health crises.
Adam Sullentrup, Herman Police Department
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Red, White and Blue Heart Award
At about 9:30 p.m. on March 12, 2023, Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith and Officer Adam Sullentrup responded to a disturbance call at the Casey’s convenience store on Highway 19 in Hermann. When the officers arrived, both were shot by a gunman, who was wanted for multiple outstanding felony arrest warrants. The officers returned fire, but the gunman fled. He was captured the following day after barricading himself in a house. Officer Sullentrup was shot in the head and suffered a traumatic head injury. Because of the extent of his injury, he spent several months in a rehabilitation hospital in Colorado before returning home in November 2023. Officer Sullentrup undergoes continuing physical therapy and will remain on disability for the remainder of his life because of the extent of his injuries.
Jeffrey Clouse, Ferguson Police Department
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Medal of Valor
On March 17, 2023, Officer Clouse responded to a call for a person in crisis at Ferguson’s January Wabash Park. The man was naked and suffering from a mental episode and ran into the park’s lake and appeared to be attempting to drown himself in the frigid water. Without hesitation, Officer Clouse removed his duty belt, emptied his pockets, and jumped into the lake. Once Officer Clouse reached him, the man kicked and shoved Clouse away. However, Officer Clouse overcame the resistance and managed to subdue the man and then safely bring him back to the edge of the lake and lift him so that assisting officers could pull him out of the water. When a man was experiencing a mental health crisis and endangering his own life, Officer Clouse acted with swift determination and successfully rescued the man, despite his efforts to thwart the rescue effort.
Channing Cochran and David Ostendorf, Independence Police Department
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Medal of Valor
On April 17, 2023, Officers Cochran and Ostendorf were dispatched to a traffic crash with injuries at U.S. Highway 40 and 47th Street in Independence. Upon arrival, one of the vehicles was on fire with a passenger trapped inside. The driver had been able to exit the vehicle with a two-month-old child. But the other passenger had a serious leg injury that prevented him from getting out, and he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Officers Cochran and Ostendorf fought through intense heat and smoke as they worked to free the victim and the fire encroached the passenger compartment. They were able to pull the victim out of the vehicle and drag him to safety only seconds before the fire intensified and reached the interior of the vehicle. With time running short and an injured man trapped inside a burning vehicle, Officers Cochran and Ostendorf acted swiftly and with single-minded determination saved the victim’s life.
Travis Sanders, Greene County Sheriff’s Office
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Medal of Valor
At about 10 a.m. on April 23, 2023, Corporal Sanders responded to an isolated rural area in Greene County after a man wearing an ankle monitor left a suicide note for his family and made suicidal statement. He said he intended to kill himself rather than go back to prison. The subject was tracked to his location through the ankle monitor. Corporal Sanders located the subject as he appeared to be drowning in Pickerel Creek close to its confluence with Big Sac River. He was in three-to-four feet of water, bent forward into floating brush with his head in the water. He was sucking in water as he breathed, gasping and vomiting. From the creek bank, Corporal Sanders attempted to keep the subject’s head out of the water without success. Corporal Sanders removed his duty belt, entered the chilly water and pulled the subject to the bank, where a civilian helped pull him out of the water. Fire and EMS radios did not work in the isolated area and the ambulance could not traverse woods and fields to the creek. For this reason, a helicopter was requested. To get the patient to the helicopter’s landing area required Corporal Sanders and another officer to secure the patient to a stretcher and carry him across the creek and up a steep embankment. The patient was transported to a hospital and received life-saving treatment. With a man’s life in grave risk, Corporal Sanders thought creatively and acted decisively, overcoming many obstacles in the process of helping save the man’s life.
Alfred Allmon Jr., Nicholas Jones, William Stevenson, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Medal of Valor
On the afternoon of April 28, 2023, Officers Jones and Stevenson responded to an apartment building in the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood, where relatives requested assistance with a man in mental health crisis. At the apartment, they located the subject on a bathroom floor. EMS was called and responded. Officers Jones and Stevenson and a crisis response unit clinician attempted to talk with the man. Jones and Stevenson then attempted to lift the man from the floor, when he pulled a concealed pistol and fired two shots, striking Officer Stevenson in the right shoulder. The porcelain toilet was broken into several sharp pieces during the violent struggle as the officers worked to get the gun away from the subject, bring him under control, and protect their fellow officers. Officer Jones received a head injury in the struggle, and Officer Allmon, who had responded to an Officers in need of aid call, suffered a large laceration to his left arm. Officers Stevenson and Allmon were transported to Barnes Hospital. Officer Stevenson was treated for four puncture wounds to his right shoulder and released. Officer Allmon received stitches for the laceration to his arm. Officer Jones refused treatment at the scene. The gunman was treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his right hand and underwent a psychiatric evaluation. Despite being injured, the three officers worked together to control a violent gunman and never fired a shot despite the danger he posed.
Chris Coleman, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Medal of Valor
On May 21, 2023, Deputy Sheriff Chris Coleman responded to a motor vehicle crash on Highway T near the intersection with Fiddle Creek Road. There were downed power lines, so Deputy Coleman closed Highway T. While directing traffic be saw that an Ameren Missouri truck had arrived; shortly after, he noticed smoke coming from the truck. He grabbed a fire extinguisher from his patrol vehicle and as he headed to the Ameren truck, he saw that the lineman was in contact with the truck, which was in contact with a live wire. Deputy Coleman extinguished the flames and, risking his safety to protect the lineman, grabbed the man by his pants leg and pulled him away from the electrified truck. The lineman was suffering from life-threatening injuries. Deputy Coleman called for medical assistance, warning that the truck posed a grave danger. EMS arrived and rendered aid to the worker. Deputy Coleman observed the truck was again igniting and extinguished the flames as the medical team cared for the lineman just a few feet away from the truck. The victim was transported by helicopter to a hospital and survived his injuries. Deputy Coleman had alertly responded to a dynamic scene and his quick thinking helped save the lineman’s life.
Lance D. DeClue, Missouri State Highway Patrol
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Medal of Valor
On the morning of July 28, 2023, Master Sergeant DeClue heard radio traffic indicating a Crawford County Sheriff’s deputy was in pursuit of a stolen vehicle on Route B and the suspect had fired several rounds from a handgun out his window toward the deputy. The deputy said the driver was headed toward Westover Road. Master Sergeant DeClue drove to Westover Road to deploy a tire deflation device but the pursuit had already passed the location. DeClue’s vehicle was not pursuit rated, so he followed in the direction of the pursuit. The gunman was now reported to be passing in no passing zones and had almost struck an oncoming vehicle head-on. DeClue monitored traffic to figure out the next location where he could attempt a tire deflation and settled on Highway 49, but the gunman began crashing through gates into the Doe Run Mine property. DeClue then observed the vehicle turning around where one of the Doe Run Mine roads came to a dead end. He was now moving head-on toward DeClue’s patrol vehicle on a one lane road. DeClue determined he needed to end the pursuit immediately because the subject had already fired at a deputy and had attempted to ram civilian vehicles. DeClue cut the wheel of his patrol vehicle and rammed the suspect vehicle, disabling it. DeClue then exited his vehicle, drew his handgun and ordered the subject to show his hands. The subject complied and was taken into custody. Throughout a dangerous ordeal in which the subject endangered the lives of many people, including DeClue, the master sergeant remained calm, methodical and determined to take the safest course of action, ultimately capturing the subject by risking his own safety.
Destiny Brant, nominated by Matthews Volunteer Fire Department
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On the afternoon of Sunday, August 6, 2023, a vehicle with five people inside rolled over on rain-soaked Highway H, one-half mile west of Matthews. The overturned vehicle landed in a flooded ditch. Destiny Brant, who had just graduated from college a few weeks earlier, and her mother were driving to their home in Canalou when they spotted the overturned vehicle in the floodwater. Without regard for her own safety, Brant entered the ditch, swam through four-foot-deep water and pulled two children from the vehicle. Upon arrival, Matthews’ firefighters quickly went to work and extricated the three others still entrapped in the vehicle. All five victims recovered from minor injuries. Brant, who had just left Sunday church services, courageously acted as a true Good Samaritan.
Louis Miklovic, nominated by Missouri State Park Rangers
2023 Class
Awarded on: 09/12/2024
Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award
On September 1, 2023, tragedy struck during an annual family camping trip to Washington State Park, on the border of Washington and Jefferson counties. Joshua Miklovic and his two sons had hiked into Big Foot Cave. As they exited the cave, six-year-old Peter lost his footing and was teetering off the edge of the bluff. Joshua attempted to pull Peter back, but father and son fell 80 feet off the bluff and then tumbled down another 100 feet of steep, rocky terrain. Eleven-year-old Louis immediately sprinted to the trail head parking lot, found a park ranger, and the urgent need for help. He then led State Park Ranger Jacob Jenkins to a location where they could observe his father and brother. While Ranger Jenkins called for additional assistance, Louis used his cellphone to explain what had occurred to other family members. While Peter was alert with no major injuries, his father had suffered a broken back, severe head laceration and a concussion. First responders created a rope system and rappelled to the victims. The only way to evacuate Joshua, who was in critical condition, was to lower him down the bluff to the Big River and then use a small boat to transport him to a park beach and then fly him by helicopter to a hospital. Peter had a minor head laceration that required nine staples. Joshua required multiple surgeries and 150 stitches to close a nine-inch head laceration and continues to recover. Despite the trauma of witnessing his father and brother fall from the bluff, Louis immediately went for help, provided complete and accurate information to rangers, remained calm throughout the ordeal, and continued to share helpful information with first responders.