Thursday, October 16, 2008

South County Teen Center honors Belvoir heroes

South County Teen Center held its 2nd annual Heroes Dinner Oct. 9 at the South County Government Center.

The dinner is held to honor Fairfax County firefighters, police officers and members of the armed forces.

Fort Belvoir had four of its own honored at the event: Sgt. Joshua Sharpe from the 212th Military Police Detachment; Firefighter Kevin Good; Department of the Army Police Officer Sgt. James Green.

Military Police Officer Sgt. Jeffery Young was also honored, but he was unable to attend the event.

Sharpe recently returned from a year-long tour of duty in Iraq with his specialized search dog, Kira. He has conducted more than 150 combat missions while deployed and successfully located 25
explosive caches and improvised explosive devices.

Good has been with Fort Belvoir DES since 1997. He has been a volunteer firefighter, driver, operator and company officer in Stafford County. He currently serves as the fire chief for Falmouth’s Volunteer Fire Department.

Green retired from the military after 21 years as an air traffic controller. After serving as a police officer with various departments in Alabama, he became a federal officer in 2003. He currently serves as a Patrol Supervisor and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer on Belvoir. In addition to his work as a police officer, Green is also a volleyball coach at Fairfax High School.

In addition to Fort Belvoir’s heroes, other officials from Fairfax County Emergency Services were also honored: Lt. Willie Bailey, Capt. Mike Kline and Master Patrol Officer Robert Miller.

Hector Collazo, program coordinator for SCGC, Teens Services Division, pointed out the importance community officials has on the youth in the area.

“Today’s community heroes - the police force, local firefighters and military personnel all work to keep the community safe,” Collazo said. “Not only do they help to create an amicable community, they serve as exemplary citizens for teenagers.”

Jared Walters, a freshman at Mount Vernon High School, emceed the event and was especially enthusiastic when he read the accomplishments of the assembled guests.

At the end of the event, the staff at the teen center surprised Jared with the Hideaway Teen Center Service Award for his contributions to the center.

“Jared has been one of our shining stars here at the center and one of the people we have really leaned on to really get the youth voice in our programs here,” Sekenia Welch, program manager for Teen Services, Region 1, said.

“This place has been a second home to me and I am just speechless right now,” Jared said. “We always look up to you all as our heroes and thank you all so much for everything you do and God bless you all.”