LOCAL AIRMAN RECEIVES HIGH HONOR
Thursday, March 5th, 2009 -- 12:18 PM
A Wisconsin airman has earned the Air Force's 2nd highest honor, The Cross.Last April, Staff Sergeant Zachary Rhyner, 22, of Medford, was part of a six-hour battle in the Afghan mountains and suffered a thigh injury from a bullet during the attack.
Officials say Rhyner calmly radioed pilots to call air strikes that held off insurgents, who were trying to overrun his team trapped atop a 60-foot cliff last.
Rhyner alone called in more than 150 rockets, a dozen 500-pound bombs, nine Hellfire missiles and one 2,000-pound bomb.
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