The Coast Guard presented Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas A. Beane with the Meritorious Service medal during a Feb. 5 ceremony at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Va., Northwest Annex, for his role in rescuing the Navy pilot of an F/A-18 Hornet that crashed into a Virginia Beach, Va., apartment complex last April. Records show that Beane was having lunch when the plane hit the Mayfair Mews apartments. He helped evacuate people from the burning building, and assisted another person in finding the pilot. Beane and the other person found the pilot, quickly made an assessment of his injuries, and pulled him 300 feet away from flames. The Meritorious Service medal is the non-combat equivalent of the Bronze Star medal. Beane is a dog handler with the Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team.
