Heroes of Denton County


Annual Awards & Recognition Gala

The Heroes of Denton County Annual Awards & Recognition Gala is held in mid-September. Corporate sponsors purchase tables of ten &, generously, "give back" six to eight of those seats so that each Law Enforcement Officer, & Firefighter, from Denton County may attend the event at no cost to them. It is an evening when citizens, dignitaries & comrades gather to recognize, & celebrate, those true “Heroes of Denton County” who stand watch over us every hour of every day of every year.

The 2010 9^th Annual Heroes of Denton County Awards & Recognition Gala Will be held on Thursday, September 30^th at 7:00PM in the ballroom at the Speedway Club of Texas Motor Speedway This Year We are Honored to Have as Our Keynote Speaker: Captain Richard Phillips Captain of the U.S. flagged container ship Maersk Alabama, hijacked by pirates on April 8, 2009 off the coast of Somalia. 11
For five days in April 2009, the world was glued to their television screens as Captain Richard Phillips became the center of an extraordinary international drama when he was made captive by Somali pirates who hijacked his ship; the first hijacking of a U.S. vessel in more than 200 years. To protect his crew, Captain Phillips made a conscious decision to put himself directly in harm's way, knowing full well that he might pay ‘the ultimate price’ for his decision. Amid the standoff, he offered himself as a hostage. The U.S. Navy responded to the scene, and negotiations were ongoing between the pirates, and the captain of the USS Bainbridge. On Friday April 10th, Captain Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and managed to swim a few yards toward the nearby destroyer, but the pirates went in after him and managed to haul him back in. The standoff dragged on until April 12th, when Navy SEAL snipers saw one of the pirates aim his AK-47 machine gun at Capt. Richard Phillips's back and concluded he was in “imminent danger.” President Barack Obama, who spoke with Captain Phillips by phone after he was freed, said; "I share the country's admiration for the bravery of Captain Phillips, and his selfless concern for his crew. His courage is a model for all Americans."

2010 Recognition Banquet Table Sponsorship Form

The form below can be used for various levels of Sponsorship of the 2010 Heroes of Denton County Awards and Recognition Banquet--from Keynote Corporate Major Grantors, table sales and individual ticket sales. Your Support is Greatfully Acknowledged, and Essential to Our Continued Success. Please click below to download the 2010 Heroes Table Sponsorship Form (PDF):

2009 Keynote Speaker, Captain James Lovell, Jr. Mission Commander, Apollo XIII & Best Selling Author
Captain James Lovell, Jr. was chosen in September 1962 for the space program following extensive experience as a naval aviator and test pilot. Lovell executed various commands in the Gemini Mission Program and at the close of the Gemini program became command module pilot and navigator for the epic six-day journey on Apollo 8, humanity’s maiden voyage to the moon, during which he, and his fellow crew, were the first humans to leave the earth’s gravitational influence. He then was backup commander to Neil Armstrong for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. His fourth and final flight was on the perilous Apollo 13 mission in 1970. He has garnered an impressive share of honors, including the Harmon, Collier, and Goddard Aerospace Trophies; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the French Legion of Honor; NASA Distinguished and Exceptional Service Medals; the Navy Distinguished Service Medal; two Navy Distinguished Flying Crosses; and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. In 1994, Lovell and Jeff Kluger wrote "Lost Moon", the story of Apollo 13. In 2000, the book was re-released as "Apollo 13: Anniversary Edition" to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission. The 1995 film version of the best-seller, "Apollo 13", was released to rave reviews. Lovell also appeared in several segments of Tom Hanks’ HBO documentary miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon", that aired in the spring of 1998.

2008 Keynote Speaker, Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell Former U.S Navy SEAL, Recipient of the Navy Cross for Combat Valor & New York Times Bestselling Author
Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell & three teammates were assigned to a reconnaissance mission, operation RED WING, in the Hindu-Kush mountain region of Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. Their objective was to gather intelligence on Taliban movement in the area. Luttrell’s team was eventually discovered and outnumbered by over 200 Taliban fighters. Petty Officer Luttrell was the only to survive the engagement. In 2006, Petty Officer Luttrell was awarded the Navy Cross by President George W. Bush for combat heroism. His full story is documented in his heroic account of the operation in his New York Times Bestselling book, entitled: Lone Survivor.
2007 Keynote Speaker, Danny Coulson Former FBI Deputy Assistant Director Criminal Investigative Division & Commander of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team
Danny O. Coulson is Former Commander of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). In 1991 Mr. Coulson was named Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division where he oversaw all FBI international and domestic investigations, violent crimes, civil rights and special inquiries for the White House. In 1994, he headed the investigation of the Murrah Building Bombing in Oklahoma City and coordinated the rescue and evidence recovery efforts, resulting in the arrest of Timothy McVeigh and the capture of his accomplices. Mr. Coulson is co-author of "No Heroes", an anthology of major criminal and terrorism investigations and the development of the Bureau’s HRT.
2006 Keynote Speaker, Army Lt. Colonel Brian Birdwell (Ret.)
United States Army Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian Birdwell is a survivor of the terrorists' attacks on September 11, 2001. After hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 collided into the Pentagon, Birdwell was thrown to the ground and engulfed in flames. Of the burns that consumed 60 percent of his body, nearly half were third degree, resulting in the need for 30+ operations. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian D. Birdwell is a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and a 1984 graduate of Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. Graduating as the Distinguished Military Student through the Army ROTC, he continued his service in the United States Army at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. After subsequently serving in South Korea for 18 months, Birdwell returned to the United States.	United States Army
2005 Keynote Speaker, FBI Special Agent Guadalupe Gonzalez
Federal Bureau of Investigation Dallas Field Office Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Area Guadalupe Gonzalez attended the University of Texas at Austin. In 1977 he joined the Marine Corps where he attended Officer Candidates School and later served as platoon commander and a Company Executive Officer. In 1996 he was designated the Associate Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Office of the FBI, in charge of Organized Crime, Drugs and Violent Crimes and in 1988 was designated Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Office of the FBI. In 2002, Special Agent Gonzalez was appointed as SAC Dallas and in January 2004 assumed the Chairmanship of the North Texas HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area).
2004 Keynote Speaker, Marine Major Jason Frei (Ret.)
United States Marine Major Jason Frei, commanding officer Headquarters Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, lost his right hand, and most of his forearm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion was the first artillery unit to leave Camp Pendleton on a ship bound for Kuwait on Jan. 17, 2003 and fired some of the first shots of the war, thus paving the way for the 1st Marine Division's advance into Iraq. Major Frei, a 10 year career Marine and graduate of the United States Naval Academy, was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received during this action. Major Frei was wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his side of a hard-back humvee.	Major Frei sits with the humvee door that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in An Nasiriya, Iraq, on March 25, 2003.
2003 Keynote Speaker, NYFD Battalion Chief, John Salka
Chief John Salka is a 24-year veteran of the New York City Fire Dept. & holds the rank of Battalion Chief. He is the commanding officer of the 18^th Battalion in the Bronx. His tenure as an officer in the department has included instructing at the Probationary Firefighters School, the Captains’ Management Program and the Battalion Chiefs’ Command Course. Chief Salka has been decorated for bravery many times throughout his 20-plus years of service in the FDNY. Chief Salka served as a commandant as part of the Incident Command Team at the World Trade Center after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and in the weeks and months that followed. He is a contributing editor for “Firehouse Magazine” and has been published in “Fire Engineering”, and other industry publications. He is the author of "First In Last Out, Leadership Lessons From The New York Fire Department".