Four Coast Guard crew members were recently presented with Air Medals during a ceremony at Air Station Sitka, Alaska for their role in the rescue of a fisherman near Meyers Chuck, Alaska, Nov. 1, 2020.
Rear Adm. Nathan A. Moore, commander, Coast Guard 17th District, presented medals to Lt. Justin Neal, pilot; Lt. Jonathan Orthman, copilot; Petty Officer 2nd Class James Schwader, flight mechanic; and Petty Officer 2nd Class Grant Roberts, rescue swimmer.
“I am incredibly proud of them,” Moore said in a release.
The aircrew received the recognition of their actions in saving the life of a lone fisherman adrift at sea.
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At 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2020, an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon registered to fishing vessel Irony activated in Earnest Sound, 150 miles southeast of Sitka. The crew departed the air station as a low-pressure storm system battered southeast Alaska.
Low altitude freezing levels, total darkness, and near-zero visibility required the aircrew to almost double the normal straight line transit distance to a 265-mile transit around rugged terrain rising to 5,000 feet above the water, the release stated. Twelve miles from Ernest Sound, the EPIRB was heard by the flight crew and the copilot spotted a strobe light left of the aircraft. As the pilots overflew the light to mark its position and set up an approach to the water, the rescue swimmer spotted through the helicopter’s infrared camera a single survivor clinging to debris.
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In an effort to make sure the survivor was not subjected to the helicopter’s rotor wash, the rescue swimmer was deployed into the water upwind of the debris and brought the survivor aboard the chopper.
The Air Medal is awarded to individuals serving with the armed forces who distinguish themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement in aerial flight.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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