Brian Kudrle

Brian Kudrle ’05, received two Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) awards. One for his part in the massive Coast Guard response to Hurricane Harvey, a category four hurricane that inflicted $125 billion in damage throughout the Southeast Texas region in 2017. Kudrle flew over 30 hours of day and night helicopter missions as he and his crew rescued more than 100 people in an urban disaster environment.

Later, he was awarded another DFC for his role in a joint Canada-U.S. mission to rescue crewmen from a fishing vessel disabled by an engine-room fire and taking on water 200 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. Despite physical and mental fatigue, he then flew 125 miles to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, landing with 13 people and less than 30 minutes of fuel left.