Wimberley Fire Chief Carroll Czichos was named the Patriot of the Year: First Responder and former Wimberley VFW Commander John Thompson was posthumously named the Patriot of the Year: Veteran.
The awards were given at the annual Patriot Day ceremony held on September 11 at Veterans Memorial Plaza atop the hill at EmilyAnn Theatre and Gardens.
The Patriot of the Year award, which began in 2009, is given to honor those who have dedicated their lives to service. Past honorees include Bill Johnson, Lewis Smith, Roger Parker and Jack Tatum.
Czichos joined the Wimberley Fire Department in 1970. He became Assistant Chief in 1975 and was promoted to Chief in 1980. He is still the Chief of the Wimberley Fire Department today. “This man is the epitome of what a first responder is,” Ken Strange, Wimberley EMS Director and previous recipient of the Patriot of the Year award, said. “…How many people do you know that have served that long? What kind of a servant heart is that? It is awesome, and it speaks so much to his character.”
Beyond his 42 years as Wimberley Fire Chief, Czichos also became a Peace Officer in 1994 and a Master Peace Officer in 2014. He is also a Deputy County Fire Marshal as well as a swiftwater rescue trainer.
Among many honors and awards, he has received a Veterans of Foreign Wars Certificate of Commendation, a Rescue Three Lifetime Achievement Award and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition by Congressman Lloyd Doggett.
Czichos was quick to share the praise.
“This is a great honor,” Czichos said. “… I look around here, and I see all the veterans here. I see the firefighters. I see the EMS personnel. These people also put their lives on the line every shift for y’all. Trying to come up with one name of somebody to get this honor, I figure it is kind of hard, so what I would like to do is take this honor and accept it for all the first responders, the veterans and everybody who is up here, because they all deserve it.” Former Wimberley VFW Commander John Thompson was honored as the Patriot of the Year for veterans. Thompson died April 26, 2022 while he was still the acting commander of the local VFW post.
Thompson joined the U.S. Navy in 1966 and served aboard the nuclear ballistic submarine Nathanael Greene until 1972. He then married his wife and had two children. His son Tory Thompson, who is a fire chief in Pflugerville, accepted the award on his father’s behalf.
“As a father, my dad was the definition of a servant leader,” Thompson said. “We knew him as a baseball coach. We knew him as a lay leader and Sunday school teacher at our local church that we attended… And in 2012, my father and mother moved to this community in Wimberley. Within a short measure he began looking again for opportunities to serve and to be a part of this community.”
Thompson volunteered often at Deer Creek of Wimberley, the VFW, the annual VFW Rodeo and at KWVH Wimberley Valley Radio, all of which was aimed at highlighting veterans and veterans’ needs.
“I stand here in front of you today as a 23 year public servant in large part to the example (my dad) set for me and my brother in life,” Thompson said.
At the time of his death, Thompson was working with local nonprofits to create a local program that would provide immediate mental health services before other programs, such as those offered by the Veterans Administration, could kick in. He believed that such immediate services were essential and that many veterans and their families could not wait for VA and other programs to begin. Following his death, the community has established John Thompson’s Veteran Mental Health Initiative to accomplish those goals. Donations for the fund can be sent to the VFW Post 6441, Box 535, Wimberley, TX 78676.
Local first responders were honored at the Patriots Day Ceremony on September 11 at EmilyAnn Theatre and Garden’s.
JOHN THOMPSON
PHOTOS BY DALTON SWEAT/WIMBERLEY VIEW
