By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Elliott Fabrizio
Defense Media Activity
April 22, 2010 - Two Pentagon Force Protection Agency officers credited with stopping a gunman at a Pentagon entrance March 4 were recognized in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes yesterday. Officers Marvin Carraway and Jeffery Amos each received the Harry E. Neal Award from the Association of Former Agents of the U.S. Secret Service.
"It's definitely an honor, and I feel very humbled," Carraway said. "Whenever I put on this uniform and this badge, I feel a great deal of pride. I wear it with a lot of dignity and honor."
"I feel that I was only doing my job during the incident that took place," Amos said. "At the same time, it could have gone differently, and I'm kind of glad it turned out how it did."
On the day of the shooting, John Patrick Bedell approached the Pentagon from the Metro subway station entrance, pulled out a 9 mm pistol and opened fire on officers at a security checkpoint. Carraway and Amos returned fire and fatally wounded the shooter. Both officers suffered superficial wounds, but continued to engage Bedell.
"We look for newsworthy acts of heroism in law enforcement communities throughout the United States to honor," said AFAUSSS President Ike Hendershot. "The offensive action that they took that day to protect the community and the Pentagon pushed them to the top of our list. It just makes my heart so glad that we have these types of heroes in America today."
Named for former assistant chief of the Secret Service Harry E. Neal, the award honors police officers who've performed outstanding services in the form of acts of heroism or extraordinary investigations.
The previous recipients of the Harry E. Neal Award were the two officers who ended the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5.
The award is a part of the AFAUSSS Foundation, which collectively has donated more than $1 million in financial support to families of deceased law enforcement officers and to scholarship programs.
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