Filipino-American Deputy Jose "Joe" Nanquil was one of the 15 recipients of the 2009 Los Angeles County Sheriff Department Annual Medal of Valor and Meritorious Conduct Awards.
Nanquil, a 20-year veteran of the department, was honored with six other sheriff's deputies that overpowered a kidnapping suspect and saved the lives of three hostages during a hostage drama in Brea in 2007.
"I am overwhelmed, but I am also very excited for the other people that were in the same entry team that went in and stopped a hostage-taker in 2007," the six-foot, 200-pound peace officer declared, minutes before Sheriff Lee Baca placed the Medal of Valor around his neck in front of a cheering audience of family members and hundreds of sheriff deputies at ceremonies held at the Quiet Cannon Golf Club on Wednesday, September 9.
"I am really, really thrilled by what's going on here today," said Baca. "I am especially proud of the heroics that were accomplished by these good people; people who have everything in mind to do the right thing, and then go forward in circumstances of great physical challenge to themselves."
The Valor Awards Program was established to officially and publicly recognize exceptionally heroic acts performed by members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department. The Medal of Valor is the highest honor a member of the Sheriff Department can receive.
Nanquil was born in the Santa Rita, Pampanga, and attended elementary school there. He attended one year of high school at Don Bosco High School in San Fernando, Pampanga. At age 13, he and his family immigrated to the U.S. on a petition by his uncle and lived in San Diego for a few months. His family then moved to Rowland Heights, then to Alhambra, and to Rosemead, where he finished high school.
He attended Rio Hondo College, DeVry, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), all the while majoring in criminal justice. In 1989, when he turned 23, he was recruited by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department as a deputy. Nanquil's first assignment was the Pitchess Honor Rancho-East Facility, followed by stints at the North County Correctional Facility, Sybil Brand Institute, and culminating in the assignment at the Industry Station and its Asian Crimes Task Force.
"Going through high school I actually grew up around Asian gangs," Nanquil told the Asian Journal. "My team and I have taken a lot of people like gang members to jail — I've been working Asian gangs for a long time."
Rene Villaroman is a writer for Asian Journal.
Photo by Rene Villaroman
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