Trump Awards California Guardsmen ‘Patriots’ Who Rescued More Than 200 Trapped By Wildfire

[mystery-ak]

 Trump Awards California Guardsmen ‘Patriots’ Who Rescued More Than 200 Trapped By Wildfire
September 15, 2020 By Jordan Davidson

As wildfires blaze across California and Oregon, President Trump awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, “a military decoration that recognizes heroism and extraordinary achievement,” to seven of California’s National Guard who risked their lives to save others from a large wildfire.

“Our nation is strong because of remarkable individuals like these service members,” President Trump said. “In the midst of our greatest trials and biggest challenges, America prevails because of the brave and selfless patriots who risk everything.”

Last week, Chief Warrant Officers Joseph Rosamond, Kipp Goding, Irvin Hernandez, Brady Hlebain, Ge Xiong, and Sergeants George Esquivel and Cameron Powell of the Guard flew a CH-47 Chinook helicopter and a UH-60 Black Hawk into the Mammoth Lake Reservoir in the Sierra National Forest to rescue campers surrounded by one of California’s raging wildfires.

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The California National Guard
@CalGuard
Dozens of evacuees are evacuated to safety on a Cal Guard Chinook last night after the Creek Fire in central California left them stranded. Photo courtesy California National Guard.

more w/photos
https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/15/trump-awards-california-guardsmen-patriots-who-rescued-more-than-200-trapped-by-wildfire/

[sneakypete]

This pisses me off.

A DSC is an industrial-strength hero badge for extreme courage during combat with an armed enemy,and is ONLY below the Medal of Honor when it comes to military valor awards.

Trump should have never done this,and anyone close enough to him that gets close enough to speak to him needs to explain it to him.

It may be gaining him a few thousand new "friends/voters",but I can guarantee you it will cause him to lose more.

There MUST be some sort of "Presidential Courage Award" he can give them instead.

[PeteS in CA]

@sneakypete, per this, https://web.archive.org/web/20131224111737/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=15249&CategoryId=3&grp=4&menu=Decorations%20and%20Medals&ps=24&p=0 , the DFC is awarded for: "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight." There is no requirement that the act be in combat, and its early history demonstrates this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_States)#History .

The Distinguished Service Cross is indeed second to the MoH, and the act for which it is awarded must have been in combat. But these airmen were not awarded the DSC.

BTW, I noticed that several of the recipients were Warrant Officers. WOs rose to that rank through the enlisted ranks and have a LOT of experience.

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete, per this, https://web.archive.org/web/20131224111737/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=15249&CategoryId=3&grp=4&menu=Decorations%20and%20Medals&ps=24&p=0 , the DFC is awarded for: "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight." There is no requirement that the act be in combat, and its early history demonstrates this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_States)#History .

The Distinguished Service Cross is indeed second to the MoH, and the act for which it is awarded must have been in combat. But these airmen were not awarded the DSC.

BTW, I noticed that several of the recipients were Warrant Officers. WOs rose to that rank through the enlisted ranks and have a LOT of experience.

and

@PeteS in CA

Thanks for the correction. I was never an airdale,so I got the DFC and the DSC confused,and then just "lost it" when I though that DSC's were going to be diminished in importance by just giving them away to everyone.

As for the Warrant Officers,I never knew or even heard of an Army WO that  didn't start out as enlisted swine.

Lots of people I knew in the army considered the WO commission to be the best deal in the army because you still got to work your job,and didn't have to deal with all the social BS that commissioned officers had to deal with.