At the State Employee Medal of Valor ceremony held June 12, there were 13 CDCR staff members honored for their extraordinary acts of heroism.
In all, 11 staff received the Gold Star while two received the Silver Star. These are the highest state awards presented to a public safety officer. The ceremony was held at the California Highway Patrol Academy in West Sacramento.
“We celebrate the brave and selfless acts of our employees. When they were needed most, they courageously risked their own safety to help others. Today’s awards are a celebration of their bravery, selflessness and unwavering dedication to community.”
Jeff Macomber, CDCR Secretary
Gov. Gavin Newsom honored the following CDCR employees
GOLD STAR
- Lt. Dana Boggs (Retired) – Correctional Training Center
- Parole Agent Michael Dilger – DAPO, Southern Region
- Ryan Diangson – California Health Care Facility
- Johnny Huynh – Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training
- James Jones – Substance Abuse Treatment Facility
- Jeremy McGhee – Facility Planning, Construction and Management
- Correctional Officer Sandra Mendonca – California Medical Facility
- Sgt. Jose Navarro – Substance Abuse Treatment Facility
- Sgt. Alesandro Padilla – Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training
- Lt. Raymond Siordia – California Men’s Colony
- Steve Smith – California Health Care Facility
SILVER STAR
- Correctional Officer Michael Miranda – Folsom State Prison
- Lt. Robert Smalley – Mule Creek State Prison
Heroic actions taken by CDCR employees
GOLD STAR HONOREES
Ryan Diangson, Steve Smith and Jeremy McGhee rescued a 94-year-old woman from her burning home.
On Oct. 12, 2024, Diangson, Smith and McGhee were working off duty when they noticed smoke billowing from a nearby home. When they learned the house belonged to a 94-year-old woman who was still inside, they sprang into action. They raced toward the burning structure where intense heat and thick, choking smoke greeted them.
Smith and Diangson felt their way through the haze and found the woman in her bedroom. She was frightened and disoriented after waking from a nap. With a calm urgency they guided her to safety, as McGhee worked to clear obstacles on their escape route. They stayed by her side, offering comfort and reassurance while waiting for first responders to arrive.
Johnny Huynh and Sgt. Alesandro Padilla stopped a violent assault in a crowded public setting.
On Dec. 16, 2024, Huynh and Sgt. Padilla were volunteering at a church in Elk Grove when they were approached by a woman who was screaming in fear. She was being chased and pleaded for their help.
The man who was pursuing her paused when Sgt. Padilla told him to stop, but moments later he became violent. He struck Sgt. Padilla before grabbing a chair and raising it like a weapon. Sgt. Padilla acted and pulled the man to the ground. Without regard for his safety, Huynh took control of the man’s legs as they worked to de-escalate the situation.
Lt. Raymond Siordia risked his life to save a driver whose truck flipped in the middle of a foggy freeway.
On his way to work early on New Years Day 2024, Lt. Siordia found a pickup truck turned sideways in the middle of the highway.
Visibility was near zero in a thick fog on Highway 101. Lt. Siordia narrowly avoided a collision himself. The driver of the truck was a fellow colleague who was dazed and disoriented after striking the median barrier and spinning out of control. Vehicles, including a semi-truck, were skidding and swerving to avoid hitting them.
Lt. Siordia assessed the driver’s health and attempted to move the truck. When it wouldn’t move, he pulled the injured man from the truck and guided him to a safer area as more vehicles spun out nearby while they waited for emergency medical services.
James Jones and Sgt. Jose Navarro pulled victims from the wreckage of a freeway crash.
While driving through dense fog on Dec. 4, 2024, Jones and Sgt. Navarro came upon a head-on crash with a car on fire. They stopped and rushed toward the danger. They worked alongside a local police officer to pull several victims to safety.
Sgt. Navarro stayed with one of the victims who was pinned in a vehicle and in critical condition. He spoke to her in a calm and steady manner, letting her know help was on the way. Sadly, she would later succumb to her injuries.
Lt. Dana Boggs rescued a driver and their dog from a violent crash.
On his way home from work on Dec. 12, 2024, Lt. Boggs witnessed a terrible accident on Highway 50. A vehicle swerved through traffic at high speed before crashing violently into another car. The struck car veered up an embankment, then rolled over multiple times before landing upside down with its roof crushed between a barricade and oncoming traffic.
Lt. Boggs immediately activated his emergency lights and pulled over before running to the smoking wreckage. The driver was trapped and hanging upside down and his dog was also in the mangled car. Lt. Boggs asked if the driver was OK, and the driver pleaded for his dog’s safety. Lt. Boggs was able to free the dog first through a narrow point of entry and get it to safety. Next, he extracted the driver and guided him away from the road.
Correctional Officer Sandra Mendonca saved a car accident victim, carrying her to safety across active lanes of traffic.
Officer Mendonca came upon a catastrophic crash on along Interstate 80 on Oct. 8, 2024. A car had struck the center divider, leaving a young woman pinned inside a smoking, totaled vehicle.
Officer Mendonca pried open the damaged car door and pulled the woman from the wreckage. She carried her over her shoulder across active lanes of traffic before administering tactical first aid. She stopped the woman’s bleeding, stabilized her injuries and kept her calm until emergency responders arrived.
Parole Agent Michael Dilger guided a youth baseball team to safety when shots rang out from a nearby brawl, using his own body to shield them.
Agent Dilger was volunteering as a substitute youth baseball coach for a team in Barstow on April 17, 2024. Without warning, a large, violent brawl erupted with 20 to 30 people armed with pipes and sticks just 50 yards from the field.
Agent Dilger quickly directed the children to the concrete dugout, the safest place for them to go. As he guided them to safety, gunshots rang out, striking multiple people in the brawl. One child was frozen in shock on the field. Agent Dilger then threw himself on the child, shielding him with his body. Once the gunfire stopped, he pulled the child to cover with the others in the dugout. Even as stray bullets struck the concrete blocks around them, he positioned himself as a barrier between the children and danger.
SILVER STAR HONOREES
Correctional Officer Michael Miranda saves family after truck rolls down embankment.
On Dec. 5, 2023, Officer Miranda came upon an oversized truck that had rolled down a steep embankment in the fog on Highway 101 near Willits. A woman was desperately trying to free her children from the truck as it teetered against a manzanita shrub.
She was able to get one of her injured children through the window of the truck to Officer Miranda, who got the boy to safety with a bystander. With the help of another bystander, they broke the windshield of the truck to free the woman and her infant child from the wreckage.
Lt. Robert Smalley helps deputy defuse potentially dangerous situation.
Lt. Smalley was off-duty at his niece’s graduation at Sutter Union High School when he saw a fight break out in the bleachers. A lone sheriff’s deputy tried confronting the group, but they were outnumbered and in danger.
As the deputy pursued one of the suspects, Lt. Smalley intercepted the suspect and brought him to the ground. He helped the deputy put the suspect in restraints, ending the threat.
The honors and what they mean
ABOUT THE GOLD STAR: This honor is awarded for an extraordinary act of heroism by a state employee extending far above and beyond the normal call of duty or service, performed at great risk to his or her own life in an effort to save human life.
ABOUT THE SILVER STAR: This honor is for an act of heroism by a state employee extending above and beyond the normal call of duty or service performed at personal risk to his or her safety to save human life or state property.
THE CEREMONY: The California Department of Human Resources sponsors the Governor’s State Employee Medal of Valor Award. The employee’s department makes the award nominations. The statewide Merit Award Board reviews the nominations.
The Director of CalHR selects the awardees. Since the program began in 1959, over 800 state employees have received Medals of Valor. The Governor’s State Employee Medal of Valor Award is the highest honor California bestows on its public servants.
Photos by Bernadette Durley, TV Specialist
Story by Office of Public and Employee Communications
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