SGT. SHAFT: Retired veteran seeks clarification of benefits

• Staff Sgt. Gino Kahaunaele accepted on behalf of Air Force Pararescuemen around the world. While acting as the primary rescue specialist for a joint task force unit in theater, Staff Sgt. Kahaunaele was shot in the shoulder at close range with an AK-47 during a direct firefight against an enemy of the United States. He continued to aid and triage the wounded while wounded himself. After an insurgent threw a grenade, wounding additional women, children and team members, Staff Sgt. Kahaunaele was hit by fragments severing several major arteries. He took immediate, inventive action to stop the bleeding and save his own life. He continues rehabilitation with the support of his grateful unit and family.

• Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Richardson accepted on behalf of the United States Coast Guard Corpsmen around the world. Petty Officer 1st Class Richardson has served a total of 14 years, with five deployments. He has been awarded the United States Coast Guard Commendation Medal, four United States Coast Guard Achievement Medals, and has been selected as the Enlisted Person of the Year twice — by Sector Delaware Bay, and the CGC Harriet Lane, respectively.

• Staff Sgt. Nicolas Crouse accepted on behalf of the Air National Guard Medics around the world. Staff Sgt. Crouse has served a total of six years and has deployed to Afghanistan. He has been awarded an Army Commendation for his time as primary medic for the First Joint Force, Multi-National Police Operational Mentor Liaison Team in Afghanistan, the Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal of Distinction and the Air Force Achievement Medal. Staff Sgt. Crouse has had a family member serve in every major U.S. conflict since the Revolutionary War.

• Sgt. Major Pamela Duggan accepted on behalf of the Army Reserve Medics around the world.

• Technical Sgt. Chante‘ Richardson accepted the Angels of the Battlefield Award on behalf of the Air Force Reserve Medics around the world. Technical Sgt. Richardson has served a total of eight years and has deployed to Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey. She has also been awarded two Achievement Medals. Technical Sgt. Richardson is originally from Oxon Hill, Md., and is currently stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Md. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Molecular Medicine at the University of Virginia.

• Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax 301/622-3330, call 202/257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.