DAGS was named for RICHARD JERRY GUADAGNO, who paid the ultimate price in the attack on America September 11, 2001. Rich Guadagno, 38, Eureka, California, Refuge Manager/Law Enforcement Officer with United States Fish and Wildlife Service, lost his life in the United Airlines Flight 93 crash in Pennsylvania on that tragic day. Mr. Guadagno was more than a hero right to the very end. His identification was found 200 yards from the wreckage, indicating the likely scenario he had his badge and credentials out to identify himself as a law enforcement officer in the defensive takeover of the flight from the murderers. Couple that with his history of reacting in similar situations and his training, and there is no doubt he led the crusade that saved more lives than can be known, while losing his own. “While we may never fully know what happened on board the hijacked aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania on which Rich was traveling, I have no doubt that he displayed the greatest courage. He is one of our Nation’s heroes.” Gale Norton, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, 2001. Mr. Guadagno was aboard the flight to return home after celebrating his grandmother's 100th birthday. His coworkers said, "Rich was more than a co-worker. He was a friend." A 17-year employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mr. Guadagno's most recent assignment was as the Manager of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge in California. There is so much to Rich Guadagno that it is hard to express it all here in compact form. Friends and family, to include coworkers, have already written quite a volume of tributes found on the Fish & Wildlife Service site. One thing I learned while writing this tribute became consistently clear. Mr. Guadagno was the kind of person everyone who knew him was proud to have known and the type of person those of us who didn't know him wish we had. A 1984 graduate of Cook College (now named SEBS) of Rutgers University, Mr. Guadagno enjoyed many things, from cooking to music, gardening to geology, astronomy to photography. On June 2, 2007 the 1000th National Recreation Trail on Basket Slough NWR was renamed the Rich Guadagno Memorial National Recreational Trail. Rich had helped design and construct it. As it says on the Fish and Wildlife Service Web site, Mr. Guadagno was "a person who walked lightly on the earth and shared himself as a wonderful, caring and sensitive person." Protector and lover of all things nature, Mr. Guadagno, whose dog, Raven, was always by his side, is survived by his parents, Jerry and Beatrice; his sister, Lori; fiancee, Dique; and, of course, Raven. We salute Mr. Guadagno, a hero, and name this handsome Siberian Husky in his honor.

(Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 10/28/01, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times 9/17/01, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)