Two Paulding County Sheriff’s Office deputies were awarded the second highest honor that can be bestowed upon a deputy. Corporal Jamie Winkles and Deputy Joshua Bishop were presented with the Medal of Merit by Sheriff Gary Gulledge at the beginning of the Aug. 9 Paulding County Board of Commissioners meeting for the heroic acts they performed during a call on June 24. Corporal Winkles and Deputy Bishop, while assigned to the Uniform Patrol Division, risked their own personal safety when they voluntarily entered a burning home to locate several injured children along with an armed female suspect who had stabbed multiple children. When they were overcome with smoke, they exited the home and appropriated two oxygen tanks and masks from firefighters who were already on scene.