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Jonathon Kissane and Wife Attend White House Ceremony

President Bush recognizes Project HOPE volunteers who helped tsunami victims

Washington, DC, July 21, 2005—This morning in a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, President George W. Bush recognized the Project HOPE volunteers who helped the victims of last December’s tsunami. John Kissane, an LMI employee, and his wife, Kathi, were two of those volunteers.

This past February, Jon and Kathi called Project HOPE officials to inquire about serving as volunteers aboard the USNS Mercy, which was providing emergency medical services to victims of the December 26 tsunami. The USNS Mercy at that time was anchored off the coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, one of the hardest hit areas. Seventeen days after making that phone call, Jon and Kathi were on their way to the USNS Mercy. Over the next 30 days, Jon, a former Director of Logistics for the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, served as the ship’s operations officer, coordinating the missions and daily support for more than 90 doctors and nurses, both aboard the ship and ashore. Kathi, a diabetics clinician and a registered nurse at a Frederick, Maryland, hospital, provided a full range of patient care services. Shortly after Jon and Kathi completed their tour, Project HOPE officials asked Jon to return to the USNS Mercy for another 3 weeks—his services were urgently needed.  He left on April 6 and again served as the ship’s operations officer. During the several weeks that Jon was supporting Project HOPE, LMI continued to pay his full salary and benefits through its charitable contribution program.

An LMI employee since 2004, Jon is a member of our Health Systems Management group and currently assigned to our Fort Detrick office, where he is helping to upgrade DoD’s medical logistics standard system. He has a BS in biology from Norwich University and an MBA from Georgia State University.