7 Watertown First Responders Awarded Medal of Valor
Seven Watertown first responders who helped protect their community in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013 will receive Medals of Valor in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
Police Sergeants John MacLellan and Jeffrey Pugliese and Officers Joseph Reynolds, Timothy Menton, and Miguel Colon Jr. will be honored alongside firefighters James Caruso and Patrick Menton.
On April 19, 2013, Watertown police encountered a car that had been taken during a carjacking and, they would learn, was occupied by the bombing suspects. At various points the suspects shot at, threw improvised explosives at, and drove the vehicle at those first responders, including firefighters responding to the scene in an ambulance.
The two men driving that ambulance navigated around undetonated explosives while attempting to reach a wounded police officer. The firefight continued for eight minutes after the injured officer was evacuated; in total, five bombs were deployed and countless rounds were fired.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during that gun battle; Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found 20 hours later.
“Each of these officers and firefighters was exposed to grave risks as they worked together to resolve the incident and save the life of the wounded officer,’’ according to the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s list of honorees.
The Watertown first responders are among 22 public safety officers who will receive medals at this year’s ceremony, which honors those who committed brave acts between 2011 and 2013. Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder will present the awards at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Including today’s recipients, a total of 95 medals have been awarded since Congress established the honor in 2001, The Associated Press reports.
The government defines an act of valor as one that goes above and beyond the call of duty, in which the actor exhibits “exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness and presence of mind’’ as well as “unusual swiftness of action, regardless of his or her personal safety, in an attempt to save or protect human life.’’
Also among the honorees are two police officers who responded to the 2012 shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, five special agents from the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team in Alabama who rescued an abducted five-year-old boy, and others who responded to everything from armed robberies to a near-drowning, according to The AP.
To receive the medal, the honorees must have been nominated by the chief executive officer of their employer, recommended by the Medal of Valor Review Board, and cited by the Attorney General. Nominations are submitted through an online application system.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com