Hill heroes hailed at Red Cross event for efforts

  • Published
  • By Ryan Larsen
  • Hilltop Times correspondent
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  Four of Hill's own were honored as the American Red Cross held its annual Hero's Breakfast at the Ogden Eccles Conference Center on April 20. The Northern Utah Chapter of the American Red Cross selects local heroes who have shown courage and selflessness during tragic events.

KTVX news anchor Robert Maxwell served as master of ceremonies. Awards were presented in the following categories: Community Safety Hero, First Responders, Adult Good Samaritan, Youth Good Samaritan, Fire Rescue, Educator Hero, Military Hero and a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Receiving the award for Community Safety was Hill's Shane Buss for his heroic assistance following a car crash on Interstate 215. A vehicle had lost control and flipped over onto its hood, and Buss stopped and pulled the driver to safety and directed traffic until police and rescue personnel arrived.

"I believe what helped me on that day is my military training as a first responder and combat life saving allowed me to be prepared to do what was needed to be done to save that person's life," he said.

Dale Covington, also of Hill Air Force Base, received the Award for Educator Hero for his dedicated work as a drug rehab counselor. A recovering addict, Covington has committed his life to helping other men and women overcome the stranglehold of drug abuse and addiction. He began by facilitating meetings for the LDS church and in the last four years he has expanded his work to include: the Farmington Bay Detention Center, the Davis County Jail, the Ogden Regional Medical Center, Hill AFB and local schools and churches.

"I knew that there were many addicts out there. I knew I was an addict and I knew that the happiness was getting greater because of the choices to continue down the road of sobriety. I was gaining a lot and I wanted to share it with other addicts," Covington said.

Hill F-16 Pilots Maj. Ryan Lucero and Maj. Brian Bragg received the Military Heroes Award for their actions while serving in Afghanistan. While flying a combat support mission the two received word that a number of ground troops including civilians were being advanced upon and attacked by Taliban insurgents, but they later lost communication with ground control. Bragg flew low until he was able to identify the location of the ground troops and enemy. After buzzing the area of the enemy as a scare tactic the enemy did not retreat. Bragg and Lucero made the decision and took the risk of setting up an attack without authorization. Lucero shot 200 rounds of high explosive incendiary bullets between the enemy and ground troops resulting in an enemy retreat. That risk paid off and 24 ground troop and five civilian lives were saved. Bragg was not able to attend the ceremony -- his wife, Lidia, accepted the award on his behalf.

"We found ourselves in a total gray area because we didn't have ground control to authorize the attack. We felt and quickly acted on the idea that if we didn't engage the enemy then our ground troops might not survive the situation," Lucero explained.

"I don't consider myself a hero, because any one of us is trained to the exact same level and any one of us could have made the same decision. What we would have all acted upon is 'any means necessary' and 'any risk necessary' to save the people on the ground," he added.

Receiving the lifetime achievement award were the Sisters of Mount St. Benedicts Monastery for their continued legacy of dedication and service to the Ogden area.

Most would agree that the men and women who received a Red Cross Heroes award were truly heroes of a super variety and the number of lives affected by their decisions will continue to grow.

The Red Cross serves the community and world with its charitable efforts to provide humanitarian assistant to those in need. For more information about volunteering or donating visit: www.utahredcross.org.