The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Airman’s Medal to Master Sergeant Thomas Scott Westermeyer, United States Air Force, for heroism involving voluntary risk of life at Dakar, Senegal, on 15 June 1998. During the pore-dawn hours, Sergeant Westermeyer saved hundreds of lives by aiding in the safe evacuation of the Hotel Hiahrama, set ablaze by an electrical fire. Awakened by the new of a possible fire, he quickly alerted hotel personnel and began an immediate evacuation of the building. Armed with only a whistle for an alarm, Sergeant Westermeyer started waking sleeping guests on the smoke-filled second floor and continued until he was satisfied the floor was empty. He then persevered to wake guests on the first floor and succeeded in evacuating more than 200 civilians from the two-story building in under 10 minutes. After attempting twice to fight the fire himself, he discovered three American airmen were still unaccounted for. Realizing two of the airmen were trapped in their room, Sergeant Westermeyer quickly placed a flashlight in his mouth and crawled to their room while leading a team in a “caterpillar chain” until he was able to locate the airmen and escort them to safety. Still not done, he retrieved a ladder and attempted to enter the last airman’s room from the outside. Awakened by Sergeant Westermeyer’s attempts to enter the room, the airman was able to make a safe evacuation, as well. In all, his heroic endeavor succeeded in evacuating nearly 300 American military and civilian guests to safety. The exemplary courage and heroism displayed by Sergeant Westermeyer reflect great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Air Force.