| Communicator Express Archives |
|
Defense of Freedom Medals Awarded, Homer, Four Raytheon Executives Recipients
The Department of Defense awarded the newly created Defense of Freedom Medal to the families of a senior civilian employee of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and four executives of the Raytheon Company who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
In a ceremony held in Andover, Mass. Nov. 13, Brig. Gen. Edward M. Harrington, DCMA Director, awarded the medals on behalf of secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The individuals killed in the terrorist airliner crashes were Herbert W. Homer, DCMA’s Defense corporate executive serving at the Raytheon Company’s headquarters, and Peter Gay, Stanley Hall, David Kovalcin, and Kenneth Waldie, all senior officials of Raytheon. The five men, who worked closely together in providing military equipment to the armed forces, were traveling to California for a senior-level management meeting.
"Today we give thanks to the dedicated people—in uniform and out; in government and in industry—who support the warfighters and actively defend Americans here at home. Each of these men, while performing his duties in defense of the nation, paid the ultimate price. We are indebted to them," said Harrington
The medal is the civilian equivalent of the military’s Purple Heart. The award was created in the wake of Sept. 11 to acknowledge the fidelity and essential service of civilian defense workers killed or wounded in the attacks. It will be used to recognize future sacrifices made in the preservation of national security.
In announcing the award on Sept. 27, Rumsfeld said the civilians killed or wounded in the attacks were "combat casualties—brave men and women who risked their lives to safeguard our freedom, and they paid for our liberty with their lives."
These were among the first presentations of the Defense of Freedom Medal.
|
|
