An Air Force vet who saved a little girl during Hurricane Katrina became the face of heroism when a photographer snapped a picture of the pair and now, 10 years later, that vet would like to know how she is.
According to the Air Force Times, pararescueman Mike Maroney — then a staff sergeant — saved a little girl in a pink shirt and pigtails from her family's flooded New Orleans home, at which time she smiled and flung her arms around him.
The photo of the event "depicted the best of the response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster," wrote the Times.
"That hug and that smile made it all worthwhile," said Maroney.
Maroney reported that the rescue was one of many completed over a seven-day rooftop-rescue marathon, and that he remembers the girl was part of a family of seven — a mother, father, and five children.
In 2010, Maroney sent a letter to Oprah to see if she would help him find the girl, but never heard back. This month,
he uploaded a video to YouTube describing how much he thinks about the girl and those he rescued.
With the help of the Air Force Times, he's now started a hashtag, #FindKatrinaKid, in hopes that he might find her.
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