The Girl Scouts are honoring the late 10-year-old Amerie Jo Garza with a posthumous award.
Amerie attempted to save her classmates’ lives at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, when a gunman opened fire inside her classroom on May 24. Amerie proceeded to call 911 but before she could call for help, she was fatally shot. She was one of the 21 victims murdered in the shooting.
The Girl Scouts Award 10-Year-Old Uvalde Shooting Victim Posthumous Award
This past Tuesday, the Girl Scouts announced it had awarded Amerie “one of the highest honors in Girl Scouting”: the Bronze Cross, a medal “presented when a girl has shown special heroism or faced extraordinary risk of her own life to save another’s life or an attempt to save another life.”
“On May 24, Amerie did all she could to save the lives of her classmates and teachers,” the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas said in a tweet. “It was our honor as Amerie’s council to present the Bronze Cross to her family, and Girl Scouts will continue to pay tribute at her funeral services today with a Presentation of Colors.
“We will carry her story with us always and ensure her brave actions will endure for generations,” they added.
Last week, Girl Scouts of the USA posthumously bestowed upon Amerie Jo Garza, 10, of Uvalde, Texas, one of the highest honors in Girl Scouting: the Bronze Cross. The Bronze Cross is awarded for saving or attempting to save life at the risk of the Girl Scout’s own life. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/bFjz0I4awa
— Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas (@girlscoutsswtx) May 31, 2022
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Berlinda Arreola, her grandmother, said it was Amerie’s first year as a Girl Scout, told People magazine. Earlier this month, she had attended her “bridging ceremony,” during which she advanced from the rank of Brownie to Junior, the organization said. On the day of the shooting, Amerie, like many of her classmates, had just received an award for making the honor roll.
“Amerie was a bright and outgoing fourth-grader who loved Play-Doh, playing with friends at recess — and being a Girl Scout,” the organization said. “Her parents say she was proud of the badges she earned.”
Amerie’s family was given a green Girl Scouts sash with the Bronze Cross medal pinned to it in a ceremony on Friday, along with a framed letter from the organization’s CEO, according to the outlet.
In a CNN interview, Amerie’s father, Angel Garza, said his daughter had turned 10 just two weeks before she was killed. And for her birthday, she received her first cellphone, which she would eventually use to call 911.
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Garza, who is a medical aide, discovered Amerie had been killed while responding to the scene of the shooting.
“One little girl was just covered in blood head to toe. I thought she was injured, I asked her what was wrong,” Garza recalled. “She said she was OK — she was hysterical, saying that they shot her best friend, that they killed her best friend, she was not breathing.
“I asked the little girl the name,” he said, “And she said ‘Amerie.'”
Garza says he hopes people will remember Annie for doing everything she could possible to rescue her classmates. “How do you look at this girl and just shoot her?” Garza said through tears, clutching a photo of his daughter. “Oh my baby. How do you shoot my baby?”
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