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Annual Awards & Recognition Banquet

The Heroes of Denton County Annual Awards & Recognition Banquet is held in Mid-September.

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

The 7^th Annual 2008
Heroes of Denton County
Awards & Recognition Banquet
was held September 11^th, Patriot's Day, in the ballroom of
The Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway

We Gratefully Acknowledge
Red Oak Gas
For Their Endorsement, & Sponsorship, of
Our 2008 Keynote Speaker,
Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell,
Former United States Navy SEAL, Recipient of
The United States Navy Cross for Valor &
New York Times Bestselling Author of,

Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell was born in Huntsville, Texas in 1975. A graduate of BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL [Sea Air Land]) Class 228, he was the only survivor of the fateful events of June 28, 2005 in Afghanistan. Luttrell and three teammates from SEAL Team TEN were assigned to a reconnaissance mission, operation RED WING, in the Hindu-Kush mountain region of Afghanistan. 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 enemy contact. In the rescue mission that ensued, 16 Special Forces personnel, including 8 SEALs, died when their helicopter was shot down by Taliban fighters. It was the largest single-day loss of life in the SEALs’ history.

In 2006, Petty Officer Luttrell was awarded the Navy Cross for combat heroism. His full story is documented in his heroic account of the operation, entitled: Lone Survivor. Marcus’s twin brother, Morgan Luttrell, is also a SEAL, still on active duty

2007 Recognition Banquet Sponsors & Event Contributors

Event Sponsors

Aaron Rents
Coffey, Stout & Peace LLP
Denton Area Teachers Credit Union
Denton Record Chronicle
Morgan Stanley
United Community Bank
WFAA Channel 8

Table Sponsors & Event Contributors
Aaron Rents BizSource Marketing Coffey, Stout & Peace LLP The Hon. Michael Burgess Denton Area Teachers Credit Union Denton Record Chronicle Morgan Stanley The Hon. Jane Nelson Point Bank Point Independent Mortgage United Community Bank	Bank of the West The Hon. Myra Crownover The Hon. Mary Denny DENCO Area 9.1.1. Denton County Sheriff Benny Parkey City of Lewisville Lewisville Morning Rotary Miller Brewing of Denton Motorola The Hon. Chris Harris The Hon. Tan Parker Peterbilt Motors Town of Flower Mound Wen-Den
Ford Country of Lewisville The Hon. Kenny Marchant

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.

Courtesy AEI Speakers Bureau
http://www.aeispeakers.com/speakerbio.php?SpeakerID=641

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 Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian D. Birdwell
http://www.facethefire.org/

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).

FBI Dallas Field Office Special Agent in Charge Guadalupe Gonzalez

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, 2004.

2003 Keynote Speaker, NYFD Battalion Chief, John Salka

Chief John Salka is a 24-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department and currently holds the rank of Battalion Chief. He is the commanding officer of the 18th 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".

Battalion Chief, NYFD
Chief John Salka