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Return to First Friday Briefing Click on photos for larger version and details Airman Honored for Heroism Georgia’s Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. David B. Poythress, and Marshall Kennemer, executive director of the National Guard Association of Georgia presented Futch with the medal during a special ceremony at the capitol building in Atlanta. Futch, who lives in Marietta and works as U.S. Customs agent in his civilian job, also the Georgia National Guard Medal for Valor in an earlier ceremony at his unit. “I’m quite humbled by all the attention,” Futch said shortly after the ceremony ended, “but I wasn’t looking for recognition. “All that matters to me is that the training I have received as a Guardsman helped me help someone else in their time of need.” Award documents show that on Oct. 4, while driving home along Interstate 285 from work at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport Futch saw a vehicle in front of his slam into the roadway’s center median. The vehicle spun around violently and immediately burst into flames. Without thinking of himself or the hundreds of cars speeding past him, Futch stopped his vehicle , jumped out and went to help the female driver of the other vehicle. He soon realized the vehicle was so badly damaged that the seatbelt release would not open, and that the women was so badly injured she could not free herself, the award document stated. Sgt. Futch pulled out his multi-purpose tool with a sharp blade and cut away the belt. Within seconds he had freed the women from the burning vehicle. When Atlanta firefighters arrived, the vehicle was a mass of flames. The woman Futch rescued was taken by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment. |
