I'll always remember that day," says Trooper Stewart (Glen) Franklin.

Trooper Glen Franklin is reminded every day of that undercover arrest of a bootlegger that left him paralyzed.

"I feel like I've had a blessed life. It may not look that way on the surface but my wife has stood by me and my family has stood by me. Its been a good life," says Franklin.

He was shot in his lower body twice at close range. And while his story was shared today, thirty-nine years later to a room full of police officers, Franklin says there's a piece of the story missing, "It's probably not in my file and nobody knows it, but there was a third bullet fired. Or there was a third shot attempted. That man put that third bullet, that pistol in between my eyes, while I was laying on the porch. And he pulled that trigger a third time, and it didn't go off."

Despite being bound to a wheelchair for almost four decades, Franklin feels lucky to be alive. Kentucky State Police presented Trooper Franklin with the Guthrie Crowe Award, that is given to officers who have sustained a severe injury while serving in the line of duty.

"They'll never know how much I appreciate it," adds Franklin.

Franklin was aware of the award he was receiving today but what he didn't know was that that Kentucky state police helped raise more than $40,000 to buy him a new van.

"Well my old van was getting to be in pretty rough shape. That just kind of blows our socks off," Franklin says.

Trooper Franklin was surrounded by many friends and family, but there was just one person he wished could have been there, "I just lost my dad about a month ago. I wish he could have been here to see this. I was really proud of him and I know he'd have loved to see this."