Two Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) Correctional Officers have been selected to receive national awards. Corporal Leon Odom and Corporal Anthony Gaudet have been selected by One Voice United to receive the National Corrections Medal of Honor Award. Cpl. Odom has been named the Silver Medal honoree. Cpl. Gaudet will receive the Bronze Medal.
Cpl. Odom, who works at the Northeast Correctional Complex (NECX) in Mountain City, was nominated for his heroic actions to save the lives of a family whose car burst into flames after crashing on April 9, 2021. All three victims and Cpl. Odom sustained severe burns but have since made a full recovery.
Cpl. Gaudet, of the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg, was nominated for the heroic actions he took on December 5, 2021 to save a woman’s life after her car went into a frigid lake. Cpl. Gaudet swam out to the woman’s car and just as he got her safely to the water’s edge, the vehicle tipped forward and sank to the bottom.
Cpl. Gaudet and Cpl. Odom will be formally recognized on May 12, 2022 at the Medal of Honor awards banquet during National Law Enforcement Week in Washington, D.C.