Watertown First-Responders Honored with Medal of Valor for Actions Following Boston Marathon Bombing

Following their heroic actions in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013, seven Watertown police officers and firefighters will be honored with Medals of Valor.

Police Sergeants John MacLellan and Jeffrey Pugliese, police officers Joseph Reynolds, Timothy Menton, and Miguel Colon Jr., and firefighters James Caruso and Patrick Menton will all receive the honor, according to boston.com.

Watertown will never forget April 19, 2013 – the day Watertown Police encountered the Boston Marathon bombing suspects in a car they had stolen.

Sargent MacLellan was one of the first to find the car, not knowing that the bombing suspects were inside, according the Milford Daily News. Soon, MacLellan and other officers found themselves in a shootout with the suspects who were also throwing bombs at the police.

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MacLellan told Watertown High School students the average shootout lasts 20 seconds, but this one lasted 7 minutes. It resulted in the death of one suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and a serious gunshot injury for MBTA Police Officer Richard Donohue.

Caruso and Menton weaved around undetonated bombs in an ambulance to help Donohue after he was injured, according to boston.com.

Now, their actions that day have been deemed heroic enough to deserve a medal of valor.

The president awards Medals of Valor every year to public officials who “exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, in the attempt to save or protect human life.” This year, 22 people have earned Medals of Valor including two police officers who died in the line of duty.

Image via Watertown Police Department on Facebook