Every year the American Red Cross honors heroes who they say are ordinary people with extraordinary courage. Friday, among the list of those honored aboard the USS Midway were two police officers.
For officers Joseph Jirjees and Justin Malicdem, wearing a uniform means much more than just carrying a badge as sworn officers working for the Sycuan Tribal Police Department.
"It represents a shield that we put in front of people that we protect them when they need us," says Jirjees. "That’s why situations, if we’re trained for them or not, if somebody’s in danger — we put ourselves before them to rescue them.”
And that’s exactly what they did in April 2022, when they went inside a smoke filled home to rescue two sleeping children and three dogs.
Malicdem says in the moment adrenaline kicked in, but not far from his thoughts were his own family, specifically his kids.
“Every parent... Like I said don’t want their kids hurt. They want to make sure they’re OK - and I wanted to make sure those parents when they got home their kids are OK,” he says.
Both were among the honorees at the annual Real Heroes Awards put on by the American Red Cross. The ceremony on the USS Midway was an opportunity to recognize those who go above and beyond the call of duty, which these officers say is something everyone is sworn to do as a member of the law enforcement community.
“Every day we put this uniform on, we’re doing something good and I want people to know that,” Malicdem says.
“I said 'I’m not a hero' because any other law enforcement officer who was there instead of me, I’m pretty sure, will have done the same thing that my partner and I did," Jirjees says.
