MOREHEAD, KY – Morehead State University Student Dawson Helton, a graduating senior from Magoffin County double majoring in history and legal studies, has won the Certificate of Exceptional Merit. This award is given in recognition of top-scoring research at the 2025 Celebration of Student Scholarship.
Dawson Helton and Bryce Fletcher (a senior from Martin County majoring in history) presented “The Price of Freedom”, a poster presentation following the journey of Staff Sergeant Sammie Slusher in WWII. SSG Slusher, born in Magoffin County, served in the U.S. Army during the African campaign. He earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for bravely eliminating a Nazi machine gun squad, resulting in the capture of the enemy force in Djebel, Tunisia. Later, during the Allied invasion of Normandy, he landed on Utah Beach with the ninth infantry division on June 10, 1944, four days after D-Day. He participated in capturing Cherbourg harbor, a strategic port for Allied forces.
Tragically, during the haze of battle, SSG Slusher passed in valiant defense of our nation and freedom. Sammie Slusher left behind a daughter, Brenda Slusher, who is Dawson Helton’s grandmother. Because of Sammie’s sacrifice, Brenda was never able to meet her father. Brenda said, “I was so proud of him even though I never met him. He was a hero to me. He was so excited because I was a girl. He wrote a letter to say if I was a girl to name me Brenda.”
According to Dr. Adrian Mandzy, “The point of the project was to raise awareness of how WW2 impacted the lives of people living in Eastern Kentucky. The project grew out of a holistic approach to education, where a student connected with his family’s legacy while on a study abroad class. What resulted was a poster that allowed him to share his story with the greater community.” Bryce Fletcher said that sharing Slusher’s story was special for him because of the impact these historical events had on people: “Bringing Sammie’s role in WW2 to life as a hero for not only Dawson, but also his grandmother who was Sammie’s daughter, was very rewarding and something I could only do here at MSU.”
Dawson Helton shared, “To have the opportunity to use my skills I have gained as a history student at Morehead State to uncover and honor my great grandfather’s legacy was a great privilege. I am humbled that the institution has chosen to award our group with such a prestigious award.”
To learn more about MSU’s History program, visit https://www.moreheadstate.edu/academics/programs/history-ba.
