{"id":12647,"date":"2018-03-16T19:23:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T19:23:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/16\/air-force-eod-tech-receives-airmans-medal-for-saving-double-amputee-from-flood\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:12:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:12:45","slug":"air-force-eod-tech-receives-airmans-medal-for-saving-double-amputee-from-flood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/03\/16\/air-force-eod-tech-receives-airmans-medal-for-saving-double-amputee-from-flood\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force EOD tech receives Airman\u2019s Medal for saving double amputee from flood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A torrential rainstorm after Christmas<\/a> in 2015 caused a vehicle in Missouri to wash off the road near where Tech. Sgt. Philip Dyer was staying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dyer, an explosive ordnance disposal instructor with the 366th Training Squadron Detachment 3 at Eglin Air Force Base<\/a> in Florida, was visiting his family in rural Missouri when the storm began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rain eventually flooded the single road and bridge to and from Dyer\u2019s location, according to an Air Force<\/a> news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dyer and his brother continued to check the road and bridge to see if it was passable since Dyer\u2019s family was stuck in the town on the other side of the bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 8 p.m., Dyer and his brother saw a vehicle had washed off the road, becoming half submerged in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only thing keeping it from washing away was an old barbed-wire fence,\u201d said the airman, whose actions would earn him the Airman\u2019s Medal, the Air Force\u2019s highest non-combat award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dyer and his brother watched as the driver of the vehicle struggled against the current to rescue his wife, a double leg amputee, from the vehicle. The driver pulled his wife out and onto the roof of their vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\t