Gov. Kehoe to award highest public safety honors to first responders and civilians from across Missouri

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, Governor Mike Kehoe will award Missouri’s highest public safety honors to 18 law enforcement officers, 11 members of the fire service, two corrections officers and a court officer for heroic acts beyond the call of duty in 2024. He will also present six civilians with awards for exceptional efforts to assist first responders and the public in 2024.

The awards include:

• 15 Missouri Medals of Valor for exceptional courage and heroism in an attempt to protect or save human life;
• 13 Governor’s Medals for heroic acts performed by a team of first responders;
• 4 Red, White and Blue Heart Awards for first responders seriously or fatally injured in the line of duty (the Red, White and Blue Heart awards will be bestowed posthumously); and
• 6 Public Safety Civilian Partnership Awards for civilians who provided valuable or courageous assistance to first responders or the public.

Tuesday, Sept. 23

WHO:             Governor Mike Kehoe

                        Public Safety Director Mark James

WHAT:          Presentation of Missouri Public Safety Medals – Medal of Valor; Red, White and Blue Heart Award; Governor’s Award; and Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award

 

WHEN:          1:30 p.m.

 

WHERE:        Missouri State Highway Patrol

Law Enforcement Training Academy Gymnasium

1510 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, MO 65102

(The ceremony will be streamed live on the Missouri Department of Public Safety Facebook page beginning at 1:30 p.m: facebook.com/MoPublicSafety)

The award recipients are:

• Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award:

• • Terry Mefford and Kenton Parsons, nominated by Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for life-saving assistance in rescuing a crash victim from a flooded drainage ditch.
  • Alan Crook and Luis Carlos Garza, nominated by Hazelwood Police Department for critical assistance to a police officer who was under attack from an armed robbery suspect.
  • Tony Carey, nominated by Kansas City Police Department for his quick thinking and immediate assistance to an unconscious motorcycle police officer who was critically injured in vehicle crash.
  • Sean MacDonald, nominated by Missouri Department of Conservation for risking his own safety to assist Conservation agents in a daring rescue of a flood victim.

• Governor’s Medal:

• • Master Sergeant John R. Henry, Corporal Cary Porter, Corporal Brett D. Tappendorf, Trooper Kristopher “Blake” Geren and Trooper Peter Hummel, Missouri State Highway Patrol for their successful, coordinated work to capture a heavily armed violent offender who fled Illinois after an attempted abduction and repeatedly fired at Patrol officers. 
  • Captain Shane Engelhardt, Captain Jason Karr, Captain Michael Schultz, Captain Matthew Smart, Driver/Engineer Michael Bainbridge, Driver/Engineer Jesse Berendzen, Driver/Engineer Lisa Layton-Brinker and Firefighter Justin Bryan, Jefferson City Fire Department for their highly technical rescue of a victim trapped in a basement under piles of debris following a house explosion. Their three-hour effort included tunneling into a highly unstable collapse structure as they fought a gas-fed fire.

• Medal of Valor:

• • Firefighter/Paramedic Kevin Drury, St. Charles Fire Department and Police Officer Dennis O’Leary, St. Charles Police Department, for a life-saving rescue from a burning house complicated by hoarder conditions.
  • Officer Luke J. Buchanan and Officer Steven D. Thompson, Independence Police Department for risking their own lives and coming under attack in an attempt to rescue a mortally-wounded court officer who had been shot serving court documents to a residence.
  • Sergeant Ben Grote and Investigator Jason Miller, Greene County Sheriff’s Office, for risking their own lives protecting witnesses as they came under fire from a heavily armed gunman.
  • Sheriff Arron Fredrickson, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, for the rescue a crash victim who had suffered a medical emergency and wound up underwater in a flooded drainage ditch.
  • Trooper Trey A. Gaedke and Trooper Justin D. Hedrick, Missouri State Highway Patrol, for ending the threat posed by a desperate, armed killer who put innocent Missourians at risk as he fled Texas with his murder victim in his SUV.
  • Sergeant Justin S. Bax and Corporal Gardner B. Pottorff, Callaway County Sheriff’s Office and former Chief Lana M. Karhoff, North Callaway County Fire Protection District. Despite each being shot multiple times, Bax and Pottorff ended the threat posed by a dangerous gunman. Karhoff respond to an active shooting scene and personally transported a wounded deputy sheriff to immediate medical attention in order to save his life.
  • Officer Tiffany Trenary and former Officer Levi Fare, Missouri Department of Corrections, for coming to each other’s aid and acting with professionalism and courage after coming under violent attack from an armed offender in the Potosi Correctional Center.
  • Officer Tyler Griffin, Crystal City Police Department, for ending the threat posed by a heavily armed gunman who had already killed one person and was firing a gun from a highway.

• Red, White and Blue Heart Award:
  • Officer Cody Allen, Independence Police Department and Court Officer Drexel Mack, 16^th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, were killed when Mr. Mack was shot to death as he delivered court documents and Officer Allen attempted to rescue Mr. Mack.
  • Assistant Chief Matthew Tobben, Boone County Fire Protection District was killed as he operated a boat rescuing two flash-flooding victims in swift-water conditions from flooded Bear Creek in Columbia.
  • Officer David Lee III, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department was killed when he was struck by a vehicle on I-70 in St. Louis as he set up traffic cones to divert traffic away from an earlier one-vehicle crash.