American Legion Beaufort Post 207 brings you Kevin Egan, 74, who, in 1972 graduated from the Citadel, joined the United States Air Force in Charleston. After Basic Training at Lackland AFB, Texas, he attended Emergency Medical Service (EMS) training at Shepherd AFB and honed his skills at Naval Hospital Charleston in the intensive care unit. He was then released to the Peace Corps and served in Paraguay.
He returned to an Air Force Reserve air evacuation unit at Charleston AFB from which he deployed to Jonestown, Guyana to rescue Congressional aides who were wounded by Jim Jones’ people before the mass suicide, which came later. He also helped extract 12 Americans who were attacked by terrorists on the train to Machu Picchu in Peru and he deployed to Grenada during the troubles there. Commissioned into the AF Medical Services Corps thereafter, he deployed to Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Storm to evacuate wounded to Germany and England. Other deployments took him to Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
The Air Evac Unit served two to three months of active duty per year. He earned seven Commendation Medals during his 30 years of service and retired as a Major. Today he is the president of the Recreational Shrimpers of South Carolina.
Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 207. For Veteran Of The Week nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.
