U.S. Air Force heroine gets medal at Southern Command for bravery in Haiti

The U. S Air Force bestowed one of its top medals on an airman Friday, who rushed into the rubble immediately after Haiti's devastating earthquake to save a colleague.

Maj. Dorene Betsy Ross received the Airman's Medal -- established in 1960 to honor members of the U.S. Air Force who distinguished themselves by heroism in noncombat situations -- for risking her life to rescue a trapped serviceman.

Ross and the colleague she rescued, Tech Sgt. Fernando Magri, gathered at a Joint Task Force Haiti recognition ceremony Friday afternoon at the United States Southern Command headquarters in Doral.

Some 100 military personnel and visitors, including Ross' family members who flew in from Indiana, were in attendance.

When the Jan. 12 earthquake struck, Ross and Lt. General Ken Keen, SOUTHCOM's deputy commander, were at the home of the U.S. ambassador in Haiti.

``The entire earth seemed to come alive for what seemed like an eternity, but it was only 50 seconds,'' Keen said. ``We could see a cloud of dust rising up over the city like smoke, and we could hear the screams below.''

Ross ``sprung into action,'' Keen said, saying she was going to find the members of her group at the Hotel Montana, where they had been staying. ``She's a leader with a can-do attitude.''

There was no way to travel through the city by car.

Ross walked four miles to get to the five-story, 145-room hotel, which would become one of Port-au-Prince's most gruesome sites of death and destruction. The hotel had completely collapsed.

She found a small passageway in the debris. She crawled inside, but her passage was blocked.

Magri was buried beneath the roof of the hotel, wedged in a space the size of a dinner table, he estimated.

``I was hyperventilating,'' said Magri, who suffered fractured ribs and other injuries. ``Then, I began to think `this is an obstacle course. I need to get to that light.' ''

In the days leading up to the earthquake, Magri had an annoying cough. It was that cough that enabled Ross to locate him underneath the wreckage.

``It was amazing,'' said Magri when he first heard Ross. ``I heard a little tiny voice saying `Sergeant Magri?' like a question. When I responded, she said `Oh my God! I can't believe it.''

Five hours after the earthquake, Magri was freed.

The medal Ross received Friday has been awarded to only nine airmen in the past two years, Keen said.

``That just shows how rare this is.''

Ross, who appeared uncomfortable with the attention, described the ceremony as ``very humbling,''

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