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Rescue swimmer awarded Distinguished Flying Cross for swimming through hell to rescue 59 others
David Fahrenthold RetweetedA Coast Guard rescue swimmer received the Distinguished Flying Cross for absolute heroics during Hurricane Harvey -- including night swimming and ripping through a roof without a saw -- and save *59* people. Bravo.
Link to tweet
News
Rescue swimmer awarded Distinguished Flying Cross for swimming through hell to rescue 59 others
Shawn Snow
December 26, 2019
He swam at night through 80 knot winds, ripped through a roof without the aid of a chainsaw and was repeatedly hoisted more than 100 feet into the air while battling turbulence and dangerous power lines around him as he aided in the rescue of 59 others in Houston, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey battered the area in August 2017.
For his heroic feats during Harvey, Petty Officer 3rd Class Tyler Gantt, a Coast Guard aviation survival technician, or rescue swimmer, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross — the U.S. military’s oldest aviation award for heroism in flight — during a ceremony in December at the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama.
His exploits in the rescue of 59 were detailed in award citation the Coast Guard posted in a news release. Two others, Coast Guard Cmdr. Scott Sanborn and Lt. John Briggs, also were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their heroism in response to Hurricane Harvey, a news release detailed.
Operating aboard a MH-65D Coast Guard helicopter, Gantt was deployed to Houston for rescue operations following flooding as a result of Hurricane Harvey.
Gantt was launched “into an unfamiliar operating area at night with winds gusting over 80 knots, visibility below 50 feet and torrential rain to respond to a critically-ill pregnant woman trapped by rising waters in her attic,” the award citation reads.
While dealing with “severe turbulence," Gantt was hoisted multiple times “through a small opening between active power lines to search for and triage the ill woman,” the citation detailed.
....
Rescue swimmer awarded Distinguished Flying Cross for swimming through hell to rescue 59 others
Shawn Snow
December 26, 2019
He swam at night through 80 knot winds, ripped through a roof without the aid of a chainsaw and was repeatedly hoisted more than 100 feet into the air while battling turbulence and dangerous power lines around him as he aided in the rescue of 59 others in Houston, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey battered the area in August 2017.
For his heroic feats during Harvey, Petty Officer 3rd Class Tyler Gantt, a Coast Guard aviation survival technician, or rescue swimmer, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross — the U.S. military’s oldest aviation award for heroism in flight — during a ceremony in December at the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama.
His exploits in the rescue of 59 were detailed in award citation the Coast Guard posted in a news release. Two others, Coast Guard Cmdr. Scott Sanborn and Lt. John Briggs, also were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their heroism in response to Hurricane Harvey, a news release detailed.
Operating aboard a MH-65D Coast Guard helicopter, Gantt was deployed to Houston for rescue operations following flooding as a result of Hurricane Harvey.
Gantt was launched “into an unfamiliar operating area at night with winds gusting over 80 knots, visibility below 50 feet and torrential rain to respond to a critically-ill pregnant woman trapped by rising waters in her attic,” the award citation reads.
While dealing with “severe turbulence," Gantt was hoisted multiple times “through a small opening between active power lines to search for and triage the ill woman,” the citation detailed.
....
3 replies
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Their unofficial motto: You have to go out; you don't have to come back.
Dedication and courage. 
