On Dec. 8, members of the Brown County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6195 and other county residents gathered in the Veterans Hall on Deer Run Lane to award and celebrate the dedicated service of three local first responders.

Each year, VFW Post 6195 has the ability to nominate local first responders for Public Servant Award Citations who meet the criteria for the Post and the Indiana VFW District in which they are located. Post 6195 is one of 16 Posts in its district, which is one of 11 districts in the state.

The Public Servant Award Citations are separated into three categories: Emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics, law enforcement personnel and firefighters.

This year local Post 6195 members were able to nominate first responders for all three categories.

These three nominations have now been passed on to the state level to compete against other recipients of VFW District Public Servant Awards.

The recipient of the Public Servant Award Citation for Emergency Medical Technician and Paramedic was Dave Frensemeier.

During the award ceremony, Post 6195 Commander Bill Hamilton read Frensemeier’s state-level nomination letter, which detailed his dedicated service to the community for more than 20 years.

Frensemeier joined the Hamblen Township Volunteer Fire Department in March of 2003. Since then, he has completed many levels of medical first responder and firefighter training, ultimately becoming a paramedic in February 2019.

He has also served as the assistant chief of Hamblen Township Volunteer Fire Department since 2008.

During the first few years of medical and firefighting volunteer work and training, Frensemeier also worked at Cummins.

According to the nomination letter read by Hamilton, Frensemeier would work “all hours of the night” as a volunteer and still get up at 5 a.m. to go to work at Cummins.

Included in the letter was an instance of someone asking Frensemeier why he never skipped a run and stayed in bed to rest during this time, to which he responded, “what if it were you or your family needing help?”

Audience members either nodded their head in approval or voiced an appreciation for Frensemeier’s response to the question.

His career at Cummins lasted almost 20 years, but in 2007, he decided to work full-time helping his community.

“He took quite a pay cut to do this but he didn’t care,” Hamilton read to the room.

In the last six months, Frensemeier finished the last of additional training and became a primary instructor to help train others to become certified in different areas.

When Frensemeier went forward to accept his award, he told the audience that he simply did what he felt was right and never expected anything in return, but was very grateful for the nomination and appreciation.

The recipient of the Public Servant Award Citation for Law Enforcement was Brown County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Michael Moore, who has served the community as a law enforcement officer for 30 years.

Captain Michael Moore (center) poses with VFW Post 6195 Commander Bill Hamilton (left) and Senior Vice Commander Jim Thomas (right) with his Public Servant Award Citation at the Veterans Hall on Deer Run Lane on Dec. 8.

Moore, according to the nomination letter read by Hamilton, holds numerous certifications and has more than 1,400 hours of training.

Law enforcement positions held by Moore include, but are not limited to, certified general instructor, certified EMT, first and second class firefighter, trainer for life support, CPR and AED and certified medicolegal death investigator.

Moore has used his knowledge and experience for the county, the sheriff’s department, Indiana State Police, the Brown County Prosecutor and Brown County Coroner.

He was also elected as county coroner this fall and will take the position next month.

“Capt. Moore doesn’t hesitate in helping everyone, and is known by his colleagues for the performance of his duties,” Hamilton read on Dec. 8.

The recipient of the Public Servant Award Citation for Firefighter was Bernie McGaha. McGaha was unable to make it to the VFW Meeting to accept his award.