The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Aviation Survival Technician Third Class Aaron G. Raines, United States Coast Guard, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight aboard HH-60 and HH-65 helicopters from 30 August to 2 September 2005, during Hurricane KATRINA rescue operations. Demonstrating exemplary skill and superlative physical stamina, Petty Officer Raines served as rescue swimmer for 18 flight hours performing urban search and rescue. After hoisting 21 survivors from 15 separate homes, Petty Officer Raines deployed to an inundated apartment complex where he located a diabetic woman suffering an insulin imbalance. Knowing she required immediate medical attention, he delicately coaxed the delusional and combative woman to the rooftop and into the rescue basket, then kept her stable en route to a medical facility. On 1 September, Petty Officer Raines was hoisted to a high angle rooftop where, straddling a window peak, he used an axe to chop a hole to access a trapped family of three. The roof’s severe slope prevented the survivors from safely climbing out of the hole, so Petty Officer Raines applied a cliff-side vertical rescue technique. With extraordinary strength and timing, he placed the quick strop loosely around each survivor, then as the hoist took the load, cinched it tight, hoisting each survivor from the hole. While operating from a school on 2 September, Petty Officer Raines located seven wheelchair-bound survivors trapped on the flooded ground-floor. Unable to safely move them to the roof, he found an abandoned 10 foot aluminum skiff as the helicopter located a safe hoisting site five blocks away. With heroic perseverance, Petty Officer Raines towed the survivors in the skiff to the hoisting site through chest-deep floodwater littered with power lines, jagged debris, and industrial waste. Fighting the effects of skin and eye irritation from the toxic waters, he repeated this dangerous trip three times to rescue all seven survivors, spending three hours in the water and covering one and a half miles while dragging the skiff. Petty Officer Raines’ actions and skill were instrumental in the rescue of 113 lives. His courage, judgment and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.