В Луизиане наградили бывшего десантника из Аляски орденом «За выдающиеся полеты»

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – A former Alaska Air National Guardsman earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and was recognized during a March 26, 2026, ceremony at the Louisiana Capitol Building in Baton Rouge. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry presented the Distinguished Flying Cross to Tech. Sgt. Adam Brister during the ceremony in the Louisiana House Chamber. The Distinguished Flying Cross is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. Both heroism and achievement must be entirely distinctive, involving operations that are not routine. The decoration was first awarded to U.S. Army Air Corps Capt. Charles Lindbergh following his historic 3,600-mile solo transatlantic flight in 1927. Brister, formerly a pararescueman with 212th Rescue Squadron, 176th Wing, earned the honor through an extraordinary act of valor June 23, 2018, in the Neacola Mountain Range of Alaska. His crew was tasked with rescuing a severely injured climber suspended on a rope after a 100-foot fall on a 5,500-foot cliff. Weather conditions prevented a hoist attempt, so Brister infiltrated on the glacier below the survivor and climbed an adjacent snow couloir toward the stricken climber. When a brief break in the cloud deck allowed, the 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk special missions aviator extracted Brister by initiating a night high-angle hoist. Approaching the patient with limited visibility, at the edge of the aircraft’s power limit and with rotor blades just three feet from the cliff face, Brister was hoisted 90 feet to a five-inch platform. With great effort, Brister lifted the weighted climber’s rope and connected the unconscious patient into his own rescue harness. When severe turbulence entangled the rope during the hoist, Brister held the patient secure while cutting free the fouled line — saving both the survivor and the helicopter. He then provided life-saving advanced medical care throughout the flight. Charlton Meginley, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs and retired U.S. Air Force colonel, said he was grateful for all in attendance, including the governor and visiting members of the Alaska National Guard. “On behalf of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, I want to express our deepest gratitude to Governor Landry for taking the time to personally honor Technical Sergeant Brister with this well-deserved recognition,” Meginley said. “Technical Sergeant Brister’s courage under the most extreme conditions is a testament to everything we hold dear about our veterans, and it is our honor to celebrate him today.”