VFW Post 5297 recognizes emergency responders

Each year, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States selects an emergency medical technician, a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, and 911 dispatcher/telecommunicator to receive public servant awards. Local VFW posts submit a winner from each category to their State VFW department headquarters. The department then selects a single winner for each of the four awards and submits those to VFW National Headquarters.

The VFW National Emergency Medical Technician Public Servant Award applies to any individual who actively gives emergency medical treatment and/or provides rescue service or civil disaster assistance as a member of any public or volunteer company organized to give emergency medical care and provide rescue and civil disaster assistance to our nation's citizens.

The VFW National Law Enforcement Public Safety Award applies to an individual who serves in a municipal, county, state or federal unit tasked with enforcement of the laws pertaining to their area of responsibility. This award does not apply to individuals employed by private companies or security services.

The VFW National Firefighters Public Servant Award applies to any individual who actively fights fires as a member of any public or volunteer company organized to fight fires and give assistance to our nation's citizens.

The VFW National 911 Dispatcher Public Servant Award applies to any individual who serves in a municipal, county, state or federal unit tasked with providing the vital link between callers in distress and emergency response teams by obtaining essential information to send the appropriate responders to the right location.

Candidates must have demonstrated recognition by their colleagues or those they serve, consistent excellence in the performance of their duties, and consistent dedication to their official responsibilities and skills within their profession.

The agencies contacted to submit their candidates were the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Office, Washington State Patrol, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Cathlamet Fire Department, and Fire Districts 1-4.

For 2025-2026, Wahkiakum Post 5297 has selected members of our community for two of the four categories. On Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Fire District 4 Fire Station, Firefighter Justin Roberts was presented with the Firefighter Award. On Thursday, Jan. 15, during the Cathlamet Fire Department EMT training session at the Skamokawa United Methodist Church, EMT Justin Tawater was presented with the EMT Award. Each winner was given a certificate, a plaque, and a cash award of $100. Both post award packages have been sent to the Washington State VFW Department for consideration and hopefully to the VFW National Headquarters. There were no law enforcement or 911 dispatcher/telecommunicators submitted this year. Last year's EMT and 911 dispatcher/telecommunicator post winners were recognized by both State and National VFW.