Medal Recipient Search
Shawn M. Dougherty and Jason C. Kuessner, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop D
2019 Class
Awarded on: 10/13/2020
Medal of Valor
On Aug. 16, 2019, members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Carter County Sheriff’s Office were met with a barrage of gunfire as they attempted to execute a writ of eviction in rural Carter County. Trooper Caleb McCoy was struck in the shoulder and Carter County Deputy Brigg Pierson was struck in the leg, groin and chest. While McCoy and another deputy were able to retreat, Pierson was very seriously wounded and fell down on the porch. Nearby, Corporal Kuessner encouraged and then pleaded for the injured Deputy Pierson to attempt to roll off the porch to a position out of the gunman’s line of fire. Deputy Pierson, summoning all his strength, rolled off the porch and crawled two steps from the residence but then collapsed. Corporal Kuessner then put himself in harm’s way by leaving his covered position to drag Pierson to behind a vehicle nearby. Master Sgt. Dougherty then ran from his position at a tree line to assist. With Deputy Pierson in medical distress and time of the essence, Dougherty, with his M-16 rifle, and Kuessner, with his service pistol drawn, then managed to drag Deputy Pierson to the tree line and an ambulance. After spending four weeks in the hospital, Deputy Pierson was able to return home, and he continues to recover through his own strength and perseverance, and because of the courage and valiant efforts of Master Sgt. Dougherty and Corporal Kuessner.
Keaton L. Ebersold, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop H and Shannon Sherwood, Rock Port Police Department
2019 Class
Awarded on: 10/13/2020
Medal of Valor
On Jan. 23, 2019, Trooper Ebersold and Chief Sherwood responded to a call for a hostage situation on I-29 in Atchison County. A truck driver exited the vehicle with his hands up, saying a woman with a gun was in the sleeper cab with a child. Trooper Ebersold went to the passenger side; Chief Sherwood approached the driver side. Both doors were locked. A window punch was used to break the driver side window. The woman had her left arm around a small child and held a flare gun in her right hand, loaded and cocked, and pointed at the three-year-old’s head. The woman refused to negotiate and ordered Ebersold and Sherwood out of the vehicle. She pointed the flare gun at Ebersold as he attempted to speak with her, before pointing it back toward the child. As Chief Sherwood worked to calm and distract the woman, she slightly lowered the flare gun so it wasn’t aimed at the child. Trooper Ebersold immediately lunged inside the vehicle and wrapped his left hand around the hammer of the flare gun to lock it in place. Chief Sherwood and Trooper Ebersold struggled to control the woman while ensuring the safety of the child. Once Ebersold had the flare gun, he threw it out of the truck, and the woman was taken into custody. Trooper Ebersold and Chief Sherwood exhibited exceptional resourcefulness and tenacity to end the threat to the young child.
Thomas M. Buchness, Christian County Sheriff’s Office
2019 Class
Awarded on: 10/13/2020
Medal of Valor
On June 18, 2019, Deputy Sheriff Buchness responded to a call in the Sparta area for a young woman clinging to a large log in the Finley River with swift water conditions. She was suffering a panic attack and struggling to breathe. Deputy Buchness traveled through a wooded area and found the victim’s condition worsening. He threw her a long heavy duty extension cord and directed her to secure herself to the log. The woman was disoriented and was losing consciousness. She had been desperately holding on for some time and needed immediate attention. Deputy Buchness removed his duty gear, descended a steep embankment and carefully climbed out onto the log. Once he reached the victim, he reassured her she would be OK. As fire service personnel began to assemble at the riverbank, the victim was provided with a life jacket; the extension cord was used as a rescue rope for the victim and Deputy Buchness to safely get to the riverbank. The victim was treated by EMS. During an extremely tense situation, Deputy Buchness exhibited calm, decisive action and resourcefulness, which facilitated the rescue of a woman in imminent danger of drowning
Christopher S. Robertson, Calverton Park Police Department
2019 Class
Awarded on: 10/13/2020
Medal of Valor
On Dec. 17, 2019, Corporal Robertson responded to assist the Ferguson Police Department after a 10-year-old boy had fallen from a diving board into the closed public pool at January-Wabash Park. There was about seven feet of water in the pool and the air temperature was 32 degrees. Upon arrival, a Ferguson officer was already in the water. He had pulled the child up from under the water, but the officer was now struggling due to the icy water and the physical exertion of propping up the lifeless child. The officer was fatigued and now in danger himself. Corporal Robertson immediately jumped into the pool. He prioritized rescuing the rescue of the child. Once the youngster was out of the water, Corporal Robertson worked to rescue the Ferguson officer. He got him to the edge of the pool, where others responders pulled him to safety. The child, who had been in the water for an estimated 20 minutes, received CPR at the scene and was flown by helicopter to a children’s hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries the next day. Without regard for his own life, Corporal Robertson courageously jumped into the icy pool and successfully pulled out two people. The Ferguson officer survived.
Matthew W. Neely, Missouri State Highway Patrol
2018 Class
Awarded on: 10/07/2019
Medal of Valor
On March 19, 2018, Troop H communications broadcast that a man and woman suspected in a residential theft in Ridgeway, Missouri, had just fled in a silver Ford Taurus. Trooper Neely spotted the vehicle southbound on Interstate 35. Before Trooper Neely could attempt to stop the vehicle, the driver exited the interstate and crashed into a utility pole. As Neely arrived on scene, the driver and passenger exited the vehicle with the driver fleeing on foot. Trooper Neely informed the passenger she was under arrest and ordered her to remain with the vehicle. Then, as Neely pursued the driver on foot across an open field, the man turned and fired multiple shots at Trooper Neely. The trooper attempted to take cover as best he could. Once the gunfire stopped, Trooper Neely radioed that shots had been fired and advanced on the gunman while commanding him to drop his weapon. The gunman attempted to re-engage Trooper Neely. The trooper fired several shots, striking the gunman twice and ending the threat. Trooper Neely and another trooper provided first aid until medical assistance arrived. The gunman survived. Despite being fired upon, Trooper Neely exhibited exceptional courage and tenacity by advancing on an armed felon, apprehending him, and ending the threat.
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.
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.
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.
Logan Benjamin, Vandalia Police Department
2017 Class
Awarded on: 11/13/2018
Medal of Valor
On June 19, 2017, Corporal Benjamin responded to a residence to check on the welfare of a man who had been texting an ex-girlfriend that he was considering suicide. When he knocked on the front door, Corporal Benjamin heard a loud thud and gasping coming from inside. Corporal Benjamin immediately made entry and found a man hanging from a support beam from a belt that was around his neck. Corporal Benjamin grabbed the man around the legs and waist and lifted him to prevent certain strangulation. But the man repeatedly hit Benjamin in the head. Struggling to prop the man up, Benjamin’s portable radio microphone was knocked off, preventing him from calling for assistance. Despite the man continuing to fight violently, Benjamin managed to call for assistance and used his tactical knife to cut the belt the man was hanging from. As both men fell to the ground, the suicidal man went for Benjamin’s knife. Benjamin drew his service pistol and commanded the man to stop trying to hurt himself and Benjamin. The suicidal man complied and was transported to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. This man remains alive and well to this day because of Corporal Benjamin’s quick thinking and unwavering determination.