Major James G. Cusic was watching the 9/11 drama unfold on the television of his office. As he watched on he felt the floor beneath him tremble. The Pentagon had been attacked.

An intercom announcement asked the building to be vacated by everybody. Major James G. Cusic cleared meeting rooms in his immediate vicinity. He then rushed to the triage center and started assisting the patients. There was a call for volunteers to re enter the Pentagon to search and rescue survivors. Major James Cusic lead a team of 20 people and attempted to re enter the building. The team could not enter because of the heat and dust. Realizing that there was lot of work to be done at the triage center he took on the responsibility of treating personnel with life threatening injuries. He assisted two people, one with a lacerated scalp and spinal injury and second with severe burns on the face and the neck. Later in the evening he saved a fire fighter who was totally exhausted. Heroic efforts of Major James Cusic lead to three lives being saved. He did not let chaos prevail in these difficult circumstances. For his bravery he was awarded the Certificate of Merit on 07 October 2002 at The American Red Cross national headquarters in Washington, D.C.