PERRY HUFFMAN
(Nominated by Kendi Ashlea & Hunter Huffman)
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
August 9, 2011
For as long as our dad can remember he has had a passion for helping people. He joined the Black Hawk V.F.D. as soon as he turned 18 and became an EMT. He spent many sleepless nights on fire and medical calls. On Kenedi’s 8th birthday he saved the life of a 5yr old little boy, named Brady Reichert, who was found floating face down in the pool we were at. That day was our dad’s day off from his job as a fire fighter at the Fort Meade VA. Our dad gave Brady CPR until he started to breathe on his own. Thanks to our dad Brady is a happy and healthy 9 yr old boy. Today our dad is the Captain of the Veteran’s Affairs Police Department here in Hot Springs, SD. The motto on the side of his police car is “Protecting Those Who Served”. On Valentine’s Day of this year, our dad was traveling between Fort Meade VA to his job at Hot Springs VA, on busy Interstate 90 when he saw a person walking into on coming traffic on the other side of the road. When he turned around and approached the person he realized it was a severely autistic teenager who had walked away from a near by Children’s Home. Our dad helped him into his patrol car and stayed with him until local authorities responded. This story was actually published in the May/June 2011 copy of the Department of Veteran’s Affair’s magazine. So, while many people call our dad a hero we’re lucky that we can call him “Dad”!
