Heroism displayed by Maj. Dorene Betsy Ross during the aftermath of the disastrous Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti led USAF to award her one of its top awards for bravery, the Airman’s Medal. Army Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, deputy commander of US Southern Command, presented the medal to Ross during a May 21 ceremony at SOUTHCOM headquarters in Miami. Ross “deliberately risked her own life to search for, and eventually rescue, a missing SOUTHCOM service member trapped in the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince,” according to the SOUTHCOM release. The Miami Herald reports Keen saying Ross “sprung into action,” walking four miles back to the city to search for other members of a SOUTHCOM team. At the hotel, she crawled through debris, finally locating TSgt. Fernando Magri who was finally freed after about five hours.
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.
