On May 25, 2009, Officer John Krahn was on patrol when a woman and her toddler became trapped in their van at a railroad crossing. Traffic from the Memorial Day festivities had boxed the car in and the van's tires had become stuck in the tracks. Seeing the commotion, Officer Krahn raced to the scene to find to his horror a train fast approaching the crossing. He reached the woman and removed her from the van when he realized her son was strapped to his car seat in the back. He and the woman's husband, who had been driving another car, struggled to open the other locked door when the train struck the van and the two men were thrown from the car. Miraculously, the child was not hurt, but both men were critically injured. Officer Krahn spent almost three weeks in the hospital and was treated for multiple leg and rib fractures, a broken pelvis and shoulder, and a bruised lung. For his bravery that day, Officer Krahn has received numerous awards which include the Medal of Valor and a Purple Heart. He was recognized as the Officer of the Month for December 2009 by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and will be honored by them at a special awards luncheon in Washington, D.C. in May. He's also the recipient of a Life-Saving Award from the National Boy Scouts of America. Officer Krahn began his career 20 years ago as an undercover drug officer and has been with the Elm Grove Police Department in Wisconsin for 18 years. He is a licensed EMT as well as a certified Field Training Officer for more than 15 years, an instructor for his department's citizen police academy for 12 years, and a D.A.R.E. officer for nine years. He's also a Defense and Arrest Tactics instructor and a Boy Scouts' Explorer Post advisor for teens. Officer Krahn's recovery process has been long and painful, but he says the fantastic support from the whole community motivates him to persevere and to one day return to his job.