Air Force Grateful Nation Honoree in NW Florida Daily News
During his 14 years as an Air Force explosive ordnance disposal technician, Tech. Sgt. James Fitzgerald has neutralized 210 improvised explosive devices, led teams during 439 combat missions, performed 226 route clearance patrols, and deployed five times in support of the Global War on Terrorism. In one case, he cleared an explosive device while under direct enemy fire.
During his 14 years as an Air Force explosive ordnance disposal technician, Tech. Sgt. James Fitzgerald has neutralized 210 improvised explosive devices, led teams during 439 combat missions, performed 226 route clearance patrols, and deployed five times in support of the Global War on Terrorism. In one case, he cleared an explosive device while under direct enemy fire.
It was those accomplishments and more that caught the attention of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1976. The organization recently selected Fitzgerald as the Air Force winner of its annual Grateful Nation Awards, which began in 2003.
Each year, JINSA honors six service members – one from each branch of the military as well as the Special Operations Command – who have distinguished themselves in the war on terror. The awards were presented this week in Washington, D.C.
”This is the biggest honor I’ve ever received in my career,” Fitzgerald said. “They flew my wife and my father and me up to Washington for the ceremony.”
Fitzgerald’s supervisor, Master Sgt. Jeffrey Barnett, nominated him for the award, which recognized Fitzgerald’s dedication and his willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty. The nomination included a reference to an instance where Fitzgerald came upon an overturned Humvee while coming back from a mission in Iraq.
“There was a lot of chaos going on, but I happened to notice a young female soldier who lying on the ground with no one helping her,” he recalled.
“She had been thrown from the vehicle, and was unconscious.”
Fitzgerald grabbed the first aid kit in the back of his vehicle and began to render assistance until help arrived. He was happy to learn later that the soldier survived her injuries.
The Atlanta native said that while he always thought about joining the military, the Sept. 11 attacks “pushed him over the fence.”
“I think I was always a patriotic person,” he said. “But everything I’ve seen over the past 14 years has made me even more so.”