Heroic Coast Guard pilot who saved lives during Hurricane Harvey awarded top military medal

[rangerrebew]

 Heroic Coast Guard pilot who saved lives during Hurricane Harvey awarded top military medal
 
December 26, 2019 Christopher Harress - Alabama Media Group
 

A Mobile-based U.S. Coast Guard helicopter pilot was awarded one of the country’s highest military honors during a ceremony in New Orleans Friday.

Lieutenant John Briggs, known as JJ to his friends and family, received the Distinguished Flying Cross for acts of heroism after Cat. 4 Hurricane Harvey battered the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast regions in late August 2017.

Hurricane Harvey caused $125 billion worth of damage and is the wettest U.S. hurricane on record, dropping more than 60 inches of rain in some parts of Texas. The subsequent flooding destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced 30,000 people and forced more than 17,000 rescues, according to reports at the time.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2019/12/heroic-coast-guard-pilot-who-saved-lives-during-hurricane-harvey-awarded-top-military-medal/

[Smokin Joe]

 

[Absalom]

The DFC is hardly awarded for military heroism or valor.
In fact, the first was given to Lindbergh for crossing the Atlantic.

[Smokin Joe]

The Distinguished Flying Cross was authorized by Section 12 of the United States Army Air Corps Act enacted by Congress on July 2, 1926,[10] as amended by Executive Order 7786 on January 8, 1938.[7] This act provided for award to any person who distinguishes himself "by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight" while serving in any capacity with the Air Corps.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_States)

Initial awards were not confined to members of the Armed Services, and included a number of civilians, including Lindbergh, Amelia Aerhart, and Wiley Post.
Currently, in addition to awards (now confined to the Military) for distinguished aerial accomplishment, the Medal may be worn with a Valor device, if that is indicated in the award..

I'd say flying a helicopter in an 80 kt wind close enough to the water to grab infants out of it is pretty extraordinary. Takes a pair, too, imho.