Armed Forces News

Six members of the District of Columbia Air National Guard were honored during an Aug. 19 Pentagon ceremony for saving the life of a civilian jogger two months earlier.
The six – Maj. Telisha Johnson, Capt. Lauren Sutherland, Chief Master Sgt. Mark Nicholas, Staff Sgt. Emanuel Morales, Staff Sgt. Jacan Vaughan and Airman 1st Class Santiago Martinez Jr. – were participating in a civil-unrest mission near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., when they came across an unconscious jogger who lay face-down on the ground and gasping for air near the Washington Monument. Together, the six administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and used a defibrillator to restore the stricken jogger’s flagging pulse to normalcy. Of the six, only one – Johnson – was a medical professional. She serves as a nurse. Nevertheless, each took part in treating the female victim until she could be medevacked by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

The six airmen, attached to the 113th Wing, each received the Meritorious Service Medal from Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett for their actions.