VA Valor winner one of our own

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jonathan Simmons
  • 433rd Airlfit Wing
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  He stepped out of his vehicle, one of many in the convoy, into a hostile scene. There was chaos, and gunshots in the air. This wasn’t a scene in the Iraqi Sunni Triangle. This was New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina.

The Sunday after Katrina made landfall, Tech. Sgt. Randy Perfecto, from the 433rd Security Forces Squadron, was on the ground in New Orleans. He didn’t go as part of the vast military relief efforts. He went as a Veterans’ Administration police officer. While members of his Reserve unit flew in and out of the International Airport, Sergeant Perfecto was sent to secure a VA hospital.

“We rallied in Alexandria, La., and picked up weapons,” said Sergeant Perfecto.

Once equipped, Sergeant Perfecto and a team of VA officers from around the country went on to New Orleans. The scene on arrival was out of control.

“It was chaotic on the ground. There were lots of people in the water rushing to get out of the city, to get back in to check on their families and the hospital was in five feet of poisonous water.” 

The VA team had a single directive: protect the hospital, its personnel and property.

“The state troopers thought we were crazy for trying to secure the facility, but our first order of business was to sweep (or search) the facility and get the patients to safety,” Sergeant Perfecto said.

Officer Perfecto soon found out why state troopers were more than hesitant about the group’s directive.

“It was like a war zone,” Sergeant Perfecto said. “Hungry people were attacking relief convoys.”

Conditions weren’t much better for those working in the storm’s aftermath. Food was scarce, sanitation nearly impossible and clean drinking water was an imported commodity.

As for Officer Perfecto, he survived for almost a week on the MREs he carried in and bottled water.

Security duty for Sergeant Perfecto wasn’t limited to only armed patrols or guarding entryways.

At one point, the hospital’s generator was failing because sewage and debris in the fuel tank. Failing power was a threat to security and to patients needing powered systems.
Officer Perfecto wasted no time. He donned pants from a chemical protective suit and waded through e-coli infested water to help a fuel crew restore the generator’s capacity.
He also found himself helping to transfer veterans’ remains from the hospital morgue to a place where they could be stored honorably while awaiting burial.

Security duty during a crisis grew into an all-encompassing, do what needs done, no matter what, duty. For his efforts, he was awarded the VA Award for Valor.

Sergeant Perfecto said getting this award was a humbling experience.

“As a supervisor here (at the 433rd SFS), I’m used to putting my troops up for awards and not thinking about awards for myself,” Sergeant Perfecto said.

He said his Air Force experience helped tremendously on this VA deployment. He enjoys his SF career field in the Air Force because of the esprit de corps. “…it’s that loyalty, that ‘huwaah’ and service before self that comes from the career field environment. It’s something you catch, like a good disease,” Sergeant Perfecto said.

“I was surprised when they told me about the award,” said Sergeant Perfecto, a 23-year Air Force veteran. “I only did the kinds of things I’ve always done in the Air Force.”