Army Col. James Kievit, commandant of DLIFLC, presents a Joint Service Achievement Medal to Airman 1st Class Tanner Cope, a student at DLIFLC, in a ceremony held Feb. 4, 2022, in recognition of Cope’s quick thinking in saving a civilian’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver.
Airman 1st Class Tanner Cope was awarded a Joint Service Achievement Medal Feb. 4, 2022, during a ceremony held at Hilltop Track on the Presidio of Monterey. Cope received the medal in recognition for having saved the life of a civilian by performing the Heimlich maneuver.
On Nov. 17, 2021, Cope, a student at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, was out to lunch in a downtown restaurant when a man stood up from his table and began yelling for help while his friend, Belinda Deranieri, was bent over, coughing and gasping for air.
“He just jumped up and didn’t hesitate to step in,” said Natela Cutter, the DLIFLC public affairs chief who had taken her team to the restaurant, along with Cope, who had been working with them while awaiting the start of his classes. “Before the rest of us realized what was going on, it was all over and we were in shock.”
After the event, Deranieri thanked Cope profusely.
Airman 1st Class Tanner Cope and Belinda Deranieri embrace after Cope performed the Heimlich on Deranieri. “He saved my life!” Deranieri said.
“He saved my life!” she said.
During the award ceremony held before the 311th and 314th Air Force Squadrons gathered for a Friday resiliency exercise, Col. James Kievit presented the award to Cope in recognition of his bravery.
“Cope did what we want everyone in uniform to do – see something wrong and have the personal courage to help, despite any fears or embarrassment,” Kievit said, comparing it to the kind of intervention needed when a fellow classmate is suffering.
Air Force Col. Jennifer Saraceno, commander of the 517th Training Group, said of Cope, “He was in superhero mode.”
About 2,500 service members attend DLIFLC to study one of 15 languages taught at the Institute which has graduated around 230,000 students since 1941. All four branches of the Department of Defense and the Coast Guard attend DLIFLC, considered the premier foreign language provider for the DOD.
