Earl Vaughn
On Friday, November 19, 1999, the Johnson County Sheriffs Department held
an awards ceremony. In addition to various awards for lifesaving, valor,
merit, bravery, and a trophy for the Horse Patrol, three Purple Heart medals
were presented. The first Purple Heart was presented to Trafalgar town Marshall
Gary Hall. The next one was given posthumously to Deputy Earl Vaughn and
was accepted by members of Union Village Lodge #545.
Earl Vaughn was Worshipful Master of Union Village Lodge in 1935. He joined
the Johnson County Sheriffs Department on January 28, 1937. At that time,
he was the department's only deputy. On June 28, 1938, he was electrocuted
by a downed power line while directing traffic around an accident.
Among those present from Union Village Lodge were Sheriff J. D. Richards,
Junior Deacon, who presented the honor; Larry Torrance, Worshipful Master;
David Deer, Senior Warden; Walter Macy, P.M.; Larry Rhinehart, P.M.; Phil
Parkhurst, P.M.; George Fetterman, Senior Deacon; Deputy Rick Haggard, P.M.;
Deputy Tom Ashley, Senior Steward; Deputy Tom Shiveley, and Deputy Jerry
Hauge.
The third Purple Heart was given posthumously to Deputy Tracy Miles, and
was accepted by his widow. Tracy was a member of Southport Lodge #270.
He died on May 28, 1999, when he was struck by a recreational vehicle as
he assisted two motorists on I-65, just north of the Whiteland exit. He
was able to push one of the motorists out of the vehicles path, but he was
unable to escape.
The story as reported in the Daily Journal.
Here is an .avi video clip that was presented on
WRTV-6 news.
(5.5 meg. approx 25-30 minutes download at 56k.)
Here are the Purple Heart medal and the Proclamation that were presented.
Earl Vaughn Road
On October 24, 2002, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to rename a section
of Johnson County road 400W as Earl Vaughn Road. Those present included
Indiana Grand Master Roger S. VanGordon, Union Village Worshipful Master George
Fetterman, County Sheriff J. D. Richards (also a member of Union Village
Lodge), and County Commissioner Rhoades.
More photos from the ceremonies may be found on this
page. (Note: This page has may take some time to load due
to the number of images.)
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Last update November 17, 2001.