On July 28, the Royse City American Legion post came together to not only celebrate its many accomplishments over the last year but to also honor its first responders. One of the American Legion's premier programs is its First Responder Award program. The program starts at the post level where the post honors its winners, and those winners are then voted on at district level and the district winners go on to the next level, and it all culminates with the national winners. There are four categories to the awards: you have a firefighter of the year, law enforcement officer of the year, EMT of the year and National Guardsman of the year.
This year the Royse City post selected its firefighter and police officer of the year. Their Firefighter of the Year is James Michael Embrey of the Royse City Fire Department. He was honored for his selfless service to the community of Royse City. He is highly respected among his peers and the post is proud to honor him and the Royse City Fire Department with our Firefighter of the year award. "Our first responders run into situations where most people are running away. James Embrey's selfless service to the community of Royse City is just one of the reasons we selected him as our Firefighter of the Year," said Commander Shawn Masters.
The post also presented their Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award to the family of Rogelio Santander. Officer Santander of the Dallas Police Department was shot and killed trying to arrest a suspect at Home Depot on April 24. "Officer Santander paid the ultimate sacrifice serving his community. Although he didn't have many years on this earth he was a guiding light to his family and friends. We are proud to honor him with this award," said Masters.
Honoring our first responders is just a small token of our appreciation for what they do for us every day. We want to thank the Royse City Fire Department and Dallas Police Department for allowing us to recognize them.
1st picture
Jason Castleberry (Post 100 Adjutant), Michael Embrey (Firefighter of the Year), Shawn Masters (Post Commander)
2nd Picture
The Santander Family and Castleberry