'Their commitment never takes a day off': Ceremony honors sacrifices of all first responders
Oct. 27—Kern County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Valdez took a bullet to the head — and not only survived, but kept doing his job.
Valdez responded to the 3 a.m. Dec. 2 call of a man rattling the door handles of vehicles and setting off alarms at Sierra Vista Mobile Home Park in Rosamond. The deputy found the suspect, followed him and, in Valdez's words, "he didn't like it." The suspect fired a gun and Valdez was struck, but he continued to pursue the suspect.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood noted Friday during the First Responders Recognition Day ceremony at Historic Union Cemetery that Valdez, despite being shot, "still caught the bad guy, still stayed in the fight."
The young deputy, now 29, had completed training only five weeks earlier.
Valdez was just one of thousands of "fighters" who were prayed for, thanked and recognized on the special day also known as National First Responders Day, established by Congress in 2017 and now commemorated annually on Oct. 28 (or the day before, in this case) in communities across the nation.
A phalanx of first responders gathered to hear speeches from their leaders and youth selected to offer encouraging words.
"All of us are resting under a banner of freedom" because of the actions of first responders, said U.S. Air Force Col. Ahave Brown Jr. from Edwards Air Force Base. He asked everyone to remember those who gave their lives so we would have better days.
Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh declared Oct. 28 as First Responders Day in the city. She noted that these men and women are the first to run into danger, and the first to give all.
