MEDIA ADVISORY: Astoria-based Coast Guardsman to receive Air Medals for Hurricane Harvey rescues

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 10/26/2018 05:07 PM EDT

united states coast guard 

News Release  

U.S. Coast Guard 13th District PA Detachment Astoria
Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Astoria
Office: (503) 861-6380
After Hours: (206) 819-9154
PA Detachment Astoria online newsroom

Astoria-based Coast Guardsman to receive Air Medals for Hurricane Harvey rescues

The Coast Guard responds to search and rescue requests in response to Hurricane Harvey in the Beaumont, Texas, area, Aug. 30, 2017. The Coast Guard responds to search and rescue requests in response to Hurricane Harvey in the Beaumont, Texas, area, Aug. 30, 2017.

Editors' Note: Media interested in attending the award ceremony are requested to RSVP with Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read at 206-819-9154 by 10 a.m., Monday, October 29. Media should plan on arriving at Coast Guard Sector Columbia River no later than 1:15 p.m. in order to be escorted onto the base.

ASTORIA, Ore. — Astoria-based Coast Guardsmen are scheduled to receive awards, Monday, for heroic rescues performed in the greater-Houston area during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.

 

Among the many awards to be handed out are five Air Medals, which is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.

 

Rear Adm. David Throop, commander Coast Guard 13th District will be presenting the awards.

 

Examples of Sector Columbia River personnel’s actions include a rescue swimmer who is credited with rescuing 30 people and assisting 59 others, including an evacuation of a 400-pound man from an upstairs bedroom and multiple rooftops rescues. Another example is of a pilot who is credited with the rescue of 25 people, of those, eight where time-critical evacuations.

 

During their response to Hurricane Harvey, Coast Guard men and women rescued 11,022 people and 1,384 pets.

 

Involved in the Coast Guard response were:

• 2,060 active duty, Reserve, civil servant and Auxiliary personnel from as far away as Guam, Alaska and Hawaii

• 50 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft

• 75 shallow-water boats

• 29 cutters

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas Aug. 25, 2017, as a Category 4 hurricane, it became the country’s first Category 3 or higher-hurricane since Wilma hit Florida in October 2005. The Hurricane caused approximately $125 billion in damage, ranking it the second-most costly hurricane to hit U.S. mainland since 1900.

Previous Air Medal recipients include: Buzz Aldrin, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, President George H.W. Bush and Sen. John McCain.

Sector Columbia River is located at:

2185 SE 12th Place

Warrenton, OR 97146

 

-USCG-