American Police Hall of Fame awards: Christopher Dewey - Purple Heart

Deputy Christopher Dewey is awarded the Purple Heart from the American Police Hall of Fame and Medal of Honor from the Mahnomen County Sheriff's Office and the Community of Mahnomen County, MN


On February 18, 2009 lives were changed forever. Deputy Christopher Dewey of the Mahnomen County Sheriff's Office was shot in the head and abdomen while on duty and began a journey that has taught all who have witnessed it lessons in what it means to never give up. His life since that day has been a series of monumental highs and desperate lows that far exceed that which most will ever have to face. But, Deputy Dewey continues to face those challenges daily. On July 23, 2009 Deputy Dewey was nationally honored, like many could only dream of; a hero in a hometown war. From the perspective of one who has watched his struggle from afar, this is a thumbnail view of the story of this remarkable young deputy, his wife, his friends, and his supporters.

Lessons in Courage

Several months ago I found a post on a Facebook page about a deputy from Minnesota who had been shot but was miraculously still alive and was even making remarkable progress. There was a link there to his CaringBridge website (CaringBridge - Chris Dewey). I thought I would go there and post a short message of encouragement and that would be that. I was wrong.

I did go there, and what I found drew me back day after day. I found the story of Deputy Christopher Dewey, how the incident occurred, when, and where. I also found one of the most courageous, strong, and determined young men I had ever had the privilege to meet. I've been posting on his site for so long now that he and his family have become like my own. Chris' young wife is named Emily. There's nothing that I could say about Emily that would be too much or over the top. She has stayed by his side since the first day. The support across the country for Chris is nothing short of phenomenal. Part of that is due to Sheriff Doug Krier and the deputies of Mahnomen County. Part of it is due to the citizenry of their area. A very large part of it is due to Emily Dewey. Her daily posts to Chris' website keep all of the visitors apprised of his daily struggles as well as her own. She tells us the story of Chris, the man. While weaving his life into ours, she has also allowed us to get to know their families. There are days that other members write the journal entry and we have all come to know them just as if they are our own family. The love and support that they continually provide to both Emily and Chris is an amazing thing to watch and my life has been blessed to be a witness to it.

Chris is not my son and Emily is not my daughter. But I feel like they are. When I was set to take a vacation to Montana in June, I inquired about the possibility of going through Denver to visit with them. At first it didn't look like that was going to happen as Chris had suffered several serious set-backs over the previous weeks and I did not want to impose on them in any way. But, Emily, in her graciousness, asked me to make the stop. I cannot tell you what an inspiring moment it was to meet her and her sister, Hannah. This young lady, who is really just a slip of a girl, has a strength that just literally shines from her eyes. I found the same candid, open, and friendly woman in person that I knew from her journal entries. I desperately wanted to express to her how much I admired her and how proud I was of the fight that Chris continued to display. I'm sure I did it poorly, but I hope she knows. And, I hope someday that Chris knows.

There was a day during all of this that my good friend, Officer John Pasko, left me speechless. He asked me to help him gather info on the incident because he wanted to nominate Chris for the Purple Heart and induction into the American Police Hall of Fame. Speechless partly because I didn't know there was such a thing. But, mostly it was because I felt a huge swell of pride that Chris was going to be nominated for such a prestigious honor. Naturally, I had no idea if it would be awarded, and I quickly realized that awarded or not, just to be nominated was something of which he could always be proud. True to my nature, I wanted to run right out and tell everybody, shout it from the rooftops even, but of course I couldn't do that. The days rocked on and the closer it came to time for the decision to be made, the more nervous I was for him. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was so very deserving, but it was never my decision to make.

As the time waiting passed slowly, Chris continued to have good days and bad days. I so often asked why he continued to get knocked back down every time he struggled back to his feet. Once again, I found myself drawing my strength from both Emily and Chris. Emily’s faith has remained steadfast throughout. Of course she has her days of frustration. How could she possibly not? But, she never lets that faith and positive outlook waver. And, who can read Emily's words each day and "watch” Chris fight back time and time again and not be amazed, inspired, and awed by what he has accomplished and continues to accomplish? I can't. There have been nights that I've gone to bed with my heart aching for what he's going through. But there has not been a single night that my heart was not just filled to over-flowing with pride in him and how hard he works.

Without Emily, I fear that a lot of people would forget about how hard he's working and how long he's been struggling. The public as a rule has a short memory. But we haven't forgotten Chris. And I can honestly say for myself, and probably thousands of others who visit the site daily, we never will. Chris has left a huge imprint on my life. But, it's not just Chris. Emily, both of their families, Sheriff Krier, Deputy Peterson, the entire Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office, the officers in Colorado who have continued to stand by them and help them, the faithful posters to his site...all of these people and so many more have touched lives and hearts throughout the country, and especially mine.

Then the big day came. My chat window popped open and I had a message from John. The decision was in. I literally held my breath as I waited. I got one word...YES!!! I remember laughing even though there were tears of joy and pride in my eyes. I honestly felt like one of my children was being honored in such a manner. The few days after that were ones of biting nails and checking through Sheriff Krier's daughter to see if the award got there. Sheriff Krier had traveled to Colorado for the week before it arrived. It was a concerted effort by all to get the award to Colorado on time. But, thanks to a team effort it made it. And now we have a picture of that event. How fitting to see Chris surrounded by those who were there to witness him receive those honors. There is Emily, forever at his side as well as Sheriff Krier, who would always be at his side physically if he could, but is always there in spirit. And the others are officers from both the Denver and Englewood Police Departments. In the presence of these people he was awarded the Purple Heart he deserved, but he was also honored with the Medal of Honor on behalf of the Mahnomen County Sheriff's Office and the community of Mahnomen County. Sheriff Krier told Chris in essence that he was being given that award for his strength, courage, and determination...something that anyone who knows him and all of us visiting his website have had the distinct privilege of witnessing for ourselves as told through Emily's words. There is no way that I could have felt more pride in him receiving those awards than if they had been awarded to either of my own sons.

The Dewey's have allowed many of us into their lives to share in the ups and downs, the setbacks and the triumphs. They will forever be a part of my family and no amount of words could say more than the ones below.

Emily, thank you. Chris, my most sincere congratulations!

Written By: Peggy Parker - Administrator of the Facebook Cause
~A Tribute To Those Who Wear The Shield~
August 15, 2009

Are Our Peace Officers Heros?

It is common knowledge that none of those who are heroes ever think they are. They may never see themselves in that light, but they are heroes to others so it's all in the perspective. One of my favorite quotes is this:
The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper. - Aristotle

To me that is the definition of a hero. Our peace officers go out there every day and put their lives on the line for us. They get little respect if any, work for minimal pay, and face an apathetic if not hostile public day in and day out. There are few days that go by that they're not cursed, ridiculed, and slandered. The media for the most part will forever report only the bad stories, when an officer makes a mistake or takes a misstep, and then slant that story in such a way to put him or her and his or her department in the worst possible light. They seek out and find the one officer in thousands who misfits the badge and makes them a headline story that tarnishes the image of every officer in the country. And yet...they get up every day, they pick up that badge, they go out the door, and they do their job if not with a smile at least with professionalism and the dignity that their profession embodies. If that's not the very definition of bearing "with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper" then I don't know what is.

They go through doors when they don't know who is on the other side, they go around corners when they don't know what's waiting for them, they make those routine traffic stops that they know could be anything but routine. They stand between us and those who would do us harm. They see the worst of the worst of what we as a public do to each other day in and day out. And yet they still go on. They still have the compassion to take a small child's hand in theirs and comfort them when they're lost or afraid. They still risk their own lives to save ours. They stand in front of us, beside us, and behind us. It's a shame that most of us aren’t standing in front of, beside, and behind them.

They say they're not heroes. They say they’re just doing their job. I have to respectfully disagree. They look into a mirror and see a cop. I'm looking in that mirror from a different angle. I see a hero.

Does the media carry a portion of the blame for the way our officers are treated? My personal opinion is yes, they do. The loss of an officer barely gets a shrug of the shoulders with maybe the exception of their local station like 'it's their job' or 'well he must have made a mistake'. Why does it take something like what happened in Oakland or 9/11 before anybody starts paying attention? And why aren't we, the general public, taking the media to task for not making sure their viewers know and understand who the real heroes are and that somebody obviously has declared open season on our officers? If you stopped a hundred people on the street on any given day and asked them if they know that a specific celebrity died...you would get one hundred who said yes. If you asked those same one hundred people if they know that as of July 26, 2009 that we have already lost 73 officers in the line of duty this year alone...I bet you wouldn't get one who knew that. And that's not right. Shame on the media, shame on us, and shame on those who have the power to influence public opinion and are letting their views be distorted by publicity and often undeserved fame. And a final "shame" on those who are allowing themselves to be led around like sheep to a slaughter instead of thinking for themselves. There are exceptions to the biased media coverage that is the norm with specific stations that go out of their way to shed a well-deserved positive light on what our peace officers do for us and report those rare instances of bad news about them fairly. When we find one of those, we, the viewers, should be commending them for their actions and letting them know that they are appreciated and give them our support just as we should be voicing our protests to those who don’t.

The perceptions of our officers by the general public may never change. But that will never stop me from trying to make it change. I came to this late. I spent a lot of years being one of those who wasn't paying attention. Well, I'm paying attention now and I may not change everybody's mind, but maybe I can change ONE person's mind. That's one more than we had yesterday. And maybe we can both change one mind tomorrow...now we've doubled again. I'm not saying it will be an easy task, and I'm not saying it will be a truly achievable task. But, I'm trying. And I'm not alone. There are a lot of us. The ~A Tribute To Those Who Wear The Shield~ cause is more than 15,000 strong now with a mix of officers and supporters, which is not bad considering we were at 500 members in February. Okay, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the general population at large, but it's 15,000 people who at least took the time to take an action that says "I care". So there are people who care and there are people who know and understand what our officers do for us.

Will these officers ever see themselves as heroes? My guess would be probably not. But to those of us standing on the outside looking in, those of us who don't have the courage to do what they do...they are heroes to us and we thank them.

Written By: Peggy Parker - Administrator of the Facebook Cause
~A Tribute To Those Who Wear The Shield~
August 15, 2009