THE MILITARY ORDER OF THE WORLD WARS AWARD

Saturday, September 18^th, 2021 The Greater El Paso chapter of The Military Order of the World Wars presented the " 2020 Citizen of the Year " award to the Law Enforcement Community, as a whole, to all the various law enforcement agencies and EPFD that responded so quickly, bravely and efficiently to the Walmart tragedy on Aug. 3, 2019. The 2021 award was given to all the "essential personnel", whether they knew they were essential or not prior to the pandemic, who so heroically responded to keep our citizens safe and our local economy uninterrupted during the peak of the pandemic. Commander Ryan Urrutia attended to receive these awards on behalf of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Mayor Oscar Leeser was there to receive the award presented to The El Paso Police Department.  

The Military Order of the World Wars is a veteran organization of military officers, which supports patriotic education, law enforcement and youth activities. The national order is over 100 years old, founded in 1919 by General of the Armies John J. "Blackjack" Pershing. The list of past honorees of the Citizen of the Year reads like a Who's Who of El Paso history, of which our office is one. This will be the first time they have ever awarded the recognition to a group of people, rather than to one individual.