BRYAN D. CARNES
(Nominated by Staci Richardson)
The National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson Air Force Base
June 24, 2011
TSgt (Ret) Bryan Carnes entered the Air Force in 1994 where he served as a Special Operations Weather Technician (SOWT). In his eleven years as a servant for the defense of our country, Bryan supported operations in Bosnia and Kosovo and was also deployed and supported military operations throughout the Middle East. Some of these operations included Bright Star, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom-Philippines where he supported both conventional and unconventional forces. During a deployment in Afghanistan, he received a medal for valor for running under fire to retrieve one of his men from a tent, taking up defensive position, and safeguarding the compound. His actions led to the capture of three Taliban insurgents. However, his selfless efforts left him with combat-related injuries, which inevitably led to his early retirement in 2005. After retirement, Bryan attended Penn State and received an undergraduate degree in 2007 and a graduate degree from University of Pittsburgh. He now volunteers for the Fairborn Police Department as a guest speaker for the nationally recognized D.A.R.E program in the local high schools. He is now employed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force as a Public Affairs Specialist.
He is most famously recognized here as the co-creator of the first ever Virtual Tour. He is also the only Civil Service Wounded Warrior at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Bryan comes from a heritage of proud military service to our country. His grandfather served in the Army Air Corps during WWII and his father retired from the Air Force. His sister served in the United States Army and participated in the Invasion of Iraq in 2003 and his brother is in the United States Army and was stationed in Iraq for 18 months. His never-ending devotion to his country, his community, and his family makes him more than deserving of the privilege of stitching The National 9/11 Flag.
