Parson awards medals to first responders, dedicated day to Missouri public safety recognition

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. —On Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson recognized the exemplary service a more than a dozen first responders in Missouri, presenting medals and dedicating the day to recognizing public safety officers.

Parson presented five different Missouri Public Safety Medals for exemplary service to Missouri first responders from across the state and civilians who assisted first responders in emergency situations during 2017. In total, Parson recognized 20 individuals in Jefferson City and 33 individuals in St. Louis.

He also proclaimed the day as Missouri Public Safety Recognition Day in further recognition of the extraordinary acts of bravery and public service performed by Missouri public safety professionals, and the risks they take to protect the public each day.

“The public safety responders we honored today risked their own safety to directly confront violence, to race into burning buildings where people’s lives were threatened, and they performed heroic, live-saving rescues to save dozens of people from record flash flooding,” Parson said. “We honored others for their life-long commitment to making communities stronger through their work to strengthen public safety professionalism and training. We also recognized civilians who made their own courageous sacrifices to come to assist first responders in dangerous emergency situations. I could not be prouder to stand with these outstanding men and women whose actions truly inspire.”

View the full photo gallery online at the Governor’s Flickr page.

Family members and colleagues were on hand for the awards presentation during the Jefferson City ceremony. The award recipients and the acts for which they were honored are as follows:

Medal of Valor

Missouri’s highest award recognizing public safety officers who exhibit exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness and presence of mind, and unusual swiftness of action, regardless of his or her personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life.

Logan Benjamin, Vandalia Police Department – 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.

Michelle L. Vogel, Missouri Department of Corrections – On the night of Aug. 5, 2017, Corrections Officer Vogel was off duty when a window air conditioner caught fire in an apartment in Vogel’s apartment complex. Officer Vogel rushed into the burning building. The fire had spread throughout most of the first floor of the apartment. Inside, through thick smoke, and intense heat and flames, Officer Vogel searched to find anyone who might be trapped. As a result of her search, she found a four-year-old girl, who she quickly got out of the building to safety. Officer Vogel also made sure everyone else was out of the burning building. Outside, the girl’s mother, who was pregnant, was having trouble breathing. Officer Vogel attended to the mother until EMS arrived on the scene. Officer Vogel later took children’s clothing to the family to assist them in the aftermath of the fire. While off duty, Officer Vogel acted without hesitation and reached a young child trapped in a burning residence long before firefighters could have reached the trapped child.

David Watkins, Jr., Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office – 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 – 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.

Public Safety Medal of Merit

Awarded in recognition of brave actions above and beyond the call of normal duty that played a critical role in successfully resolving a situation that endangered public safety.

Ryan Windham, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E – 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.

Christopher Papineau, Columbia Police Department – On the evening of May 13, 2017, a gunman, high on Methamphetamine, was firing a shotgun indiscriminately from the back of a residence. The gunman was in a tree and had a box of shotgun shells. Upon arriving, two officers were struck by shotgun pellets. The officers tried to negotiate with the gunman and set up a perimeter, but he quickly escaped with the gun and ammunition. The Columbia Police Department SWAT team was activated. As the first group of SWAT officers arrived in the area, the gunman was seen climbing onto the roof of an events center several blocks from the original scene. Inside, a graduation party was taking place. Many residents were also outdoors at a neighboring multi-story apartment complex. The SWAT team pulled within 60 yards of the gunman. He refused to comply with demands and stated he wanted to kill or seriously wound law enforcement officers and that he would not surrender. The gunman was in a prone shooting position when a pedestrian walked into his field of fire. Officer Papineau fired a single shot to prevent the gunman from harming the pedestrian. The gunman fell from the roof and was pronounced dead. Facing a gunman who had fired at civilians and officers, stated his intention to harm or kill others, and refused to negotiate, Officer Papineau acted to protect innocent civilians.
Hall of Fame Award: Presented to a senior or retired public safety professional in recognition of an exemplary career of service to the state of Missouri evidenced by devoting their talents to improving the safety and security of the state’s citizens.

Chief of Department David Hall (Retired), Springfield Fire Department – For 34 years, David Hall served the citizens of Missouri as a firefighter, fire chief, fire service educator and homeland security leader. Beginning his career as a volunteer firefighter with the Mountain Grove Volunteer Fire Department in 1983, Hall moved to the Springfield Fire Department in 1989, where he would be elevated to chief of the department in 2009, and retire in 2017. As Springfield chief, Hall was known not only for advancing the department’s capabilities but for his skill as a manager. Hall’s impact was also regional and statewide, through his leadership efforts improving programs and the fire training curriculum provided by the University of Missouri Fire Rescue Training Institute (MUFRTI). Hall served as an adjunct instructor and in leadership roles for the MUFRTI fire school and co-developed the Fire Officer I and II curricula. Hall served since the inception of Missouri’s state homeland security program and had leadership roles in the Region D Regional Homeland Security Oversight Committee, which plays a key role in Missouri’s regional approach to homeland security investment decisions. Hall now continues to lead as Missouri State University’s emergency manager. His career has served as a model of improving public safety through education, advancing training and professionalism, and commitment to public safety colleagues and the public.
Governor’s Medal: Awarded to a group of public safety officers in recognition of acts above and beyond the call of normal duty during a critical incident in which the collective performance of the group was essential to the successful resolution of the incident.

Shawn Bice, Chris Brockelbank, Jeremiah Jones, and M. Corbin Thompson, West Plains Fire Department and Christopher Kimes and Tyler Pond, Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop G – On April 28, 2017, record flooding inundated West Plains as over 10 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours. The floodwaters swept vehicles off roads, homes and buildings off their foundations and put many people at great risk. Responders’ rescue boats capsized, were disabled or could not be deployed because of treacherous conditions. Country Meadows Trailer Park, east of West Plains, had quickly flooded, trapping residents. There were reports of a person having a heart attack and people on the roofs of trailers that were being swept away. West Plains Firefighters Bice, Brockelbank, Jones and Thompson, and Highway Patrol troopers Kimes and Pond, determined to approach the trailer park from railroad track on utility terrain vehicles. They then cut through thick brush and then waded across a field in chest-high water. Reaching the park, the four firefighters and two troopers’ rescues included three people who had been struggling to hold on in a trailer swept off its foundation and a woman who was experiencing chest pains and had to be carried to safety through the flooded field. The UTVs were used to transport the victims to waiting responders. A total of seven residents were rescued by the team, working as one unit, overcoming floodwaters, floating debris, heavy rain, lightning and many other obstacles.

Chris Bell, Gary Brower, Matt Cockrum, Richie Hammon, Grant Sholes and Kurt Wilbanks, West Plains Fire Department – On April 28, 2017, a second team of six West Plains firefighters and one civilian was focused on potentially catastrophic flash flooding that was turning small creeks into rushing rivers. Hundreds of homes were inundated. Howell County 911 was overwhelmed with rescue calls. Swift water rescue boats were not available. The team of Captain Wilbanks, Engineers Bell, Hammon and Sholes and Firefighters Brower and Cockrum, along with West Plains City Councilman Cary Stewart, proceeded in a firetruck, using a pike pole to find the roadway. They would continue to improvise in terribly adverse conditions – outfitting a borrowed johnboat and single paddle with forcible entry tools and rope rigging. They made rescues using the firetruck, boat and on foot through waist deep floodwater. In all, 92 people were rescued, with four patients delivered to the hospital by boat. Those rescued included the elderly, injured, a homebound elderly woman on oxygen and about three dozen college students who sought refuge on the roof of a dormitory.

Director’s Leadership Medal

Awarded at the command or staff level to someone whose demonstrated actions in the areas of community-oriented engagement and collaborative community-based activities have promoted an environment of greater safety, security and cooperation for community members.

Frank Mininni, Normandy Police Department, Chief of Police – Colonel Mininni became Normandy Police chief in 2009, after serving 22 years with the department and steadily rising through the ranks. His two decades of experience made him aware of the gulf that existed between law enforcement and many residents in the north St. Louis County community. Determined to get his officers out of their police “bubble,” a month after becoming chief, Mininni introduced the Normandy Area Policing Initiative. It is a community engagement program designed to create real relationships between police and residents. The program implanted officers from each of the department’s divisions into specific areas of patrol. As people interacted with police, citizen satisfaction rose in resident surveys conducted by the department. To expand contacts with youth, Colonel Mininni implemented a lunch program that encouraged officers to eat lunch at local schools and engage with students. In 2015, Normandy Police and a partner nonprofit were awarded an $800,000 federal grant to put school resource officers back into the Normandy Schools Collaborative. Through these and other community engagement efforts, Colonel Mininni has worked to break down barriers and develop greater trust between citizens and law enforcement, and increase public safety in his community.

Governor’s Medal

Awarded to a group of public safety officers in recognition of acts above and beyond the call of normal duty during a critical incident in which the collective performance of the group was essential to the successful resolution of the incident.

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 – 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.

Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award

Awarded to a civilian who has provided valuable or courageous assistance to members of a Missouri public safety agency in an emergency situation.

Cary Stewart, nominated by West Plains Fire Department – On April 28, 2017, Cary Stewart, a West Plains resident and member of the West Plains City Council, participated as a member of the West Plains Fire Department team that rescued 92 people. The department considers his participation essential to the team’s success and worthy of commendation.

Charles Barney and Sandra Straw, nominated by Missouri State Highway Patrol – 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.

Raymond Rayford, nominated by the St. Louis Fire Department – For his selfless and critical assistance to Captain Whitener in the heroic effort to save the life of a trapped wheelchair bound woman, Mr. Rayford was awarded the Public Safety Civilian Partnership Award. 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.