By Rita McInerney

Staff Writer

ATLANTA – Father Kevin Guidry, who answers to captain in military circles, has been awarded the air Force Achievement Medal for his service following the USAir disaster near Pittsburgh in September.

A judge in the metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Father Guidry is also a captain with the 94th Airlift Wing based at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.

When the full effect of the Flight 427 crash became known, teams from other Air Force Reserve units were called in to help chaplain teams of the 911th Airlift Group, Pittsburgh, minister to crews recovering bodies of the 132 victims. There were no survivors.

In a report on his emergency duty, Sept. 19-24, Captain Guidry wrote, “In the temporary morgue I learned firsthand why the Air Force Chaplain Service places so much emphasis on the chaplain as a visible sign of hope and the presence of God in our midst…The chaplains ministered simply by being there.”

Chaplains honored the dead, including a “significant number” of veterans killed in the crash. They prayed over the remains and over each casket as it was placed in a hearse. Caskets arrived at the hangar by tractor-trailer load.

Many volunteer civilians joined military personnel in their sad work of identifying the victims and preparing them for the final trip home, Captain Guidry wrote.

The victims, he wrote, “were never numbers; all identified victims were referred to by name.” The chaplains had no contact with relatives of the victims. USAir employees handled that difficult task.

The Department of the Air Force citation accompanying the Air Force Achievement Medal read in part: “Captain Guidry’s outstanding professional skill, knowledge, and leadership aided immeasurably in Chaplain Service operation during the recovery phase of the USAir Flight 427 disaster. The dedication, willingness to help, and total commitment to crises ministry eased the burden for many people involved in a most difficult situation.” The medal was presented Nov. 6 during weekend duty.

Another member of the 94th, Master Sgt. Elizabeth Williams was also honored. A chaplain service support person, she provided administrative, logistical and communications support to the chaplains. And she was able to give the overworked Pittsburgh chapel staff the chance to go home and spend a few hours with their families.

Father Guidry has been a member of the Air Force Reserve since 1980, during his seminary days at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. A native of Houma, La., Father Guidry was ordained Dec. 17, 1983 at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta.