Crime & Safety

Red Cross Honors 171st Air Refueling Wings' Krall

Deborah Krall receives the Military Hero Award at annual Heroes Breakfast Thursday at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Deborah Krall received many honors during her active duty with the Air National Guard—the Air Force Commendation Medal with two devices, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Humanitaria Services Award, among others.

But it is as a civilian that she accepted the Military Hero Award Thursday during the fourth annual American Red Cross Heroes Breakfast held at the Lexus Club in Consol Energy Center in downtown Pittsburgh.

Krall, a Youngwood resident, is Airmen & Family Readiness Program manager with the 171st Air Refueling Wing in Moon Township. But she also works closely with Operation: Military Kids, which provides a sense of community for children in military families affected by deployment.

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She started with the Air National Guard after her senior year in high school after receiving high marks in the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test. She started as a photographer but found her niche as a chaplain assistant, rising through the ranks to become a master sergeant.

At one point, Krall was the most deployed chaplain assistant in the Air National Guard, traveling to Italy, France, Cuba, the Middle East, Spain and Germany. She said her most memorable deployment was to cubs, where as chaplain assistant she was in charge of three refugee camps.

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Krall was a bit intimidated when the chief of chaplains told her she was to impact someone's life every day. Another chaplain assistant told her that, for some of the refugees, just a smile would do that.

"It wasn't about what I had to give them," Krall said. "I think I was there to learn about what they had to give me."

Her career shifted gears when a new position—the Airmen & Family Readiness Program manager—opened up. As a civilian, her position is to support military families while their airmen are deployed.

"That family member who is so stressed because their military member is deployed, who hears something on the radio and doesn't know if it affects their deployed loved one, who wants to know if they need to pay a certain bill that comes in—I'm there to support and help them," Krall said.

She also works closely with Operation Military Kids, a partnership between Army Child, Youth and School Services, National 4-H Headquarters/USDA and Penn State Cooperative Extension.

"It's the icing on the cake for me," Krall said. "I love working with military members and their families, but working with the kids is the most fun."

Some people would call Krall a hero because of her military service and what she's doing to help military families today. She doesn't really see it that way.

"I think I just do my job. I imagine that's what you hear from most of us."

WPXI-TV sportscaster Bill Phillips served as emcee for the program. The recipients were nominated by event committee members and selected by an independent panel of media personnel and community figures.

This year's other recipients are:

  • Good Samaritan Hero, Christine Marty: Christine Marty, 22, of Sarver, was on the way home from a back-to-school shopping trip with her mother last summer when deadly flash flood waters hit Washington Boulevard. She and her mother, Marion, were able to escape their sinking car but were separated by the current. With water rising nearly nine feet in some areas, Marty heard an elderly woman calling for help. After assisting Romy Connelly out of her car window, Marty held on to her with one arm and swam through the current. When they reached a floating vehicle where another woman was on the roof, she then kept Connelly afloat, praying and talking and singing songs with her, until a rescue canoe eventually arrived.
  • Professional Responder Hero, Alex Vogel: Alex Vogel of Baldwin Borough, a volunteer firefighter with the Baldwin Independent Fire Co. No. 1, route: {:controller=>"listings", :action=>"show", :id=>"baldwin-independent-fire-company-no-1"} -->, responded with his fellow firefighters to a large fire on Churchview Avenue in


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