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GRAND RONDE — Somber pride flooded over an audience of more than 500 law enforcement officials Friday night at the Spirit Mountain Casino Event Center as the families of Chris Kilcullen and Ralph Painter accepted Purple Heart awards on behalf of the two officers killed earlier this year.
The wives, Kristie Kilcullen and Amy Painter, each accepted the awards along with friends and family in front of lengthy standing ovations for the fallen officers. Chris Kilcullen, a 12-year veteran of the Eugene Police Department, was shot and killed last April in a routine traffic-stop. Ralph Painter, a 20-year veteran and chief of the Rainier Police Department, was killed last January when responding to an attempted car theft.
The awards were given by the Oregon Peace Officers Association (OPOA) as part of its 42nd Annual Awards Banquet, an event that recognizes individual officers for instances of outstanding public service. The event, which in the past has drawn audiences of about 250, reached unprecedented numbers this year, with at least 40 police departments represented and a total of 91 awards given out for excellence in law enforcement.
“It’s a unique career; it’s a profession that, at any moment, you can lose your life,” said Scott Dye, the outgoing OPOA president. “It takes a different type of person to continue on doing it despite that. It’s all in their heart.”
The banquet concluded a three-day training conference also hosted by the OPOA. The conference offered training sessions in areas such as background investigations and evidence collection, and boasted nationally renowned instructors. One of them was Dave Grossman, a former professor at West Point Academy and Pulitzer Prize nominee, who was present at the event.
Throughout the course of the evening, dozens of officers received awards for fulfilling their duty under remarkable circumstances. Linn County Sheriff’s Deputy Matthew Rae received a medal of valor for rushing into a gas-filled apartment building to prevent a suicidal man from killing himself and other building tenants in an explosion.
Even so, the most significant awards of the evening came at the end of the event. The tone of the room took a solemn turn once the officers’ names were called and the stories of the event’s Purple Heart recipients began. A total of six officers earned Purple Heart awards, all of whom had been seriously wounded in the course of duty.
The entire room stood to applaud the family of Chief Painter as his wife and children accepted his award. In addition to a Purple Heart, the OPOA awarded Clatskanie Chief of Police Marvin Hoover, one of Painter’s closest friends, with a Medal of Honor for attempting to save his life. Hoover, who graduated from the same academy as Painter and was a longtime colleague, was the first to reach his side at the incident.
“It’s bittersweet,” Hoover said after the event.” I think when people receive awards, they sometimes think they maybe shouldn’t get them, especially when it’s the death of a friend. But I am honored to receive it, and I feel like I’m wearing it for him.”
In addition to awarding a Medal of Honor to Hoover, the OPOA acknowledged the efforts of two other officers, Officer Kazensky of Longview, Wash., and Sergeant McQuiddy of Clatskanie, who also responded to the incident. Chief Hoover quickly recognized them as well.
“I credit (them) with the suppressive fire that saved my life,” Hoover said. “We tried to save Ralph, and unfortunately we couldn’t do it.”
An intense and lengthy pause followed the presentation of Kilcullen’s Purple Heart as friends and colleagues took a moment to comfort his family. The death of Kilcullen, whose name was added to the Oregon Fallen Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Salem just last Friday, was still very recent in the minds of most in attendance.
Stefan Zeltvay, a friend and colleague of Kilcullen from his eight years with him on the EPD Crisis Negotiation Team, made it clear that his reason for attending was to pay respect to the fallen officer and his family.
“I’m here for Chief Painter and all the officers that received awards, but I came to honor Chris tonight,” Zeltvay said. “He gave his life doing what he knew he wanted to do. He’s the best person I’ve ever known.”
Nearly every one of the event’s 60 or so tables remained noticeably pensive after the banquet, with few people opting to leave their seats. Gradually, though, the event center filled with the sound of officers and their families rising and traversing the room to speak with award recipients, event organizers or friends from other police departments.
An array of emotions rippled throughout the room’s countless faces, some depicting grief, all eliciting a distinct sense of pride in the sacrifices that those in law enforcement must make.
“They aren’t heroes just because they die,” Grossman said during an opening speech. “They’re heroes because they walk out the door, every day, ready to lay their life on the line.”