Air National Guard flight nurse to receive Distinguished Flying Cross for saving lives after Abbey G

She will be the first Air National Guard flight nurse to ever receive the award.

A Minnesota Air National Guard officer who helped treat more than 20 patients during the chaotic August 2021 evacuation of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross this Saturday.

Major Katie Lunning, a flight nurse with the 133rd Airlift Wing, was among the military personnel who responded to the deadly bombing attack at Abbey Gate, which killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 160 Afghan civilians on August 26, 2021, amid the U.S. military withdrawal from the country

“Captain Lunning’s exceptional leadership, dedication, and medical expertise were pivotal to the medical evacuation of twenty-two multinational and joint service casualties, including five ventilated patients and multiple Afghan evacuees,” reads Lunning’s award citation. “Captain Lunning performed patient triage and intake while operating under continued small arms fire as well as significant and imminent threat of attack.”

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