Corrections_Today_Summer_2025_Vol.87_No.2

The Award of Merit for extraordinary bravery and exceptional valor was presented to Scott Surles and Darrell Monroe of North Carolina (pictured left) and to Assistant Warden Joshua Lynn of Florida (pictured right).

community work squads into the severely impact ed coastal communities to assist with post-storm relief efforts and debris removal operations. Led by Lt. Brian Gore, Lancaster Correctional Institu tion’s Cleanup and Restoration Teams worked hard assisting the local communities with blocked drive ways for the elderly, roads leading to the facilities, cutting and removing tree debris from roadways and homes, beach cleanup and much more. ACA’s The Award of Merit is presented to a person or persons who performed an act of extraor dinary bravery and exceptional valor outside of their professional duties, involving imminent per sonal threat to their life, with knowledge of the risk. This year, the Award of Merit was presented to Scott Surles and Darrell Monroe of North Carolina and to Assistant Warden Joshua Lynn of Florida. While driving a Correction Enterprises delivery truck, they came upon a smoking car that had just smashed into a tree. Risking their own lives, they

worked to free the driver whose legs were pinned under the steering wheel. As smoke from under the car intensified, they helped free the driver before flames were visible. Surles and Monroe stayed with the shaken driver until EMS arrived. Assistant Warden Joshua Lynn while vacation ing at the beach with his family, he saw a woman and man sprinting towards the water, shouting, “Help, I can’t find my mother and son!” As he glanced out into the water, he saw a person’s head emerge about 150-200 feet away. The rough water made it impossible for him to swim that distance, so he grabbed a surfboard and paddled out. Even though Lynn had been thrown from the surfboard multiple times by the waves, he managed to get the woman on the board and pull her to safety. ACA salutes these brave and innovative cor rections professionals and is proud to recognize their outstanding achievements. — BY KIRK RAYMOND

Samuel Laws and Ms. Jamie Terry received the Medal of Valor; Deputy Secretary Loris Sutton accepted it on their behalf.

Denise Robinson, CEO of Alvis, Inc., accepts the Lucy Hayes Award.

Summer 2025 | Corrections Today

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