Airman’s Selfless Act Recognized

SSgt. Jay Rosenberry, an F-16 crew chief with the Arizona National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport, received the Coast Guard Silver Lifesaving Medal in April for saving the lives of his two children and another child in July 2006 in turbulent waters off the coast of North Carolina, according to a May 7 wing report. Rosenberry was part of a nine-member group of family and friends vacationing on the beach July 24, 2006 at Harkers Island when a riptide began to pull his two children and several others in the group away from the beach. He fought the powerful waves and surf to retrieve his daughter and son and then a friend’s child. “I feel fortunate to have been able to make it to all three children and bring them back in safely,” Rosenberry said. His friend Kevin Mark Emerson gave his life that day trying to save the children. The Coast Guard bestowed its Gold Lifesaving Medal upon him posthumously. (162nd FW report by SSgt. Desiree Twombly)