Two South Dakota police officers selected to receive nation’s highest civilian award for heroism

STURGIS, S.D. (AP) – Two Sturgis police officers who pulled a man from a burning home are among 18 people selected to receive Carnegie Medals, the nation’s highest civilian award for heroism.

Sturgis Police Sgt. Christopher Schmoker and Officer Dylan Goetsch are credited for the May 2018 rescue of Jason McKee, who had passed out from heavy smoke in an upper-level bedroom.

McKee says he’s “forever indebted” to the two men, who tied water-soaked clothing around their faces as makeshift masks.

The officers dragged McKee’s unconscious body down a stairway and got him to the front door.