KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Staff Sgt. Ray Rangel of San Antonio‚ Texas, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on September 28, 1994. He was married and had 4 children before he deployed for the last time in late September 2004.
Rangel was assigned to the Logistical Support Area Anaconda, 50 miles north of Baghdad, near Balad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On Feb. 13, 2005, Rangel was dispatched with other firefighters on a rescue mission for an overturned Humvee in a canal. Soldiers watched as Rangel extended his hand to one of the firefighters and then entered the water. He was weighted down by the armor plates in his ballistic vest and lost his life.
His father said Rangel told him, "If anything should happen to me, remember I was doing what I wanted to do."
For his selfless courage, two awards are named in his honor. The Staff Sgt. Ray Rangel Award and the Ray Rangel Noncommissioned Officer Award is given to Airmen in the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.
Editor's note:
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