Goins (center) receives his plaque from Chris Cole, Chapter Commander, as Sheriff Jim Ruth looks on.

More than 25 years after being shot while backing up two Bradley County deputies, former constable Jim Goins has received the recognition he deserved.  In a ceremony at the Bradley County Judicial Center, the Military Order of the Purple Heart awarded Goins a National First Responder Citation.

Goins recounted events of October 28,  1986 saying he was attempting to serve a legal paper when a call went out over his police radio of two deputies needing assistance on Benton Pike.  The two deputies chased a man who had been cauusing a disturbance into a woods.  While looking for him, he apparently returned to his residence and retrieved the weapon.  Goins said he was not far away and responded.  Shortly after he arrived he was shot in the chest.

When this happened, Goins had been in office less than two months.

Representatives of the Chattanooga chapter made the presentation. 

Constable Jim Goins plaque.