Heroes saving heroes:
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – Aero-medical evacuation crews from Task Force Marne faced down enemy gunfire to deliver five injured Soldiers to safety, Jan. 18.
The MEDEVAC crews from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were called in when a patrol of Strykers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division was attacked.
The Black Hawk helicopters flew to the site only to find that the easiest place to land, the road the Stryker vehicles were on, had not been cleared of possible improvised explosive devices. The MEDEVAC crews were unable to contact the ground forces, or an Apache team from 12th Combat Aviation Brigade in the area.
After circling, scouting for a place to land, the crews landed in a field adjacent to the road, said Capt. Samuel Fricks, operations officer for Company C. Fricks, from Morrow, Ga., was a pilot in the second of the two MEDEVAC aircraft.
“After landing my medic, Staff Sgt. (Robert) Congdon, departed the aircraft and linked up with … Staff Sgt. (Aughe) McQuown,” Fricks said. The two medics went to the site of the attack and soon returned to the helicopters with three injured Soldiers.
As they returned to the Stryker for the remaining two injured Soldiers, Congdon said, they began taking fire.
“I just grabbed the patient and grabbed McQuown and we went into the Stryker,” said Congdon, a native of Las Vegas, Nev. Bullets struck the Stryker and around them as they went for the cover of the armored vehicle. Congdon reset the Stryker’s radio to the MEDEVAC frequency, then took off his flight helmet and put on a Stryker crewmember’s helmet so he could talk to the aircraft.
Read more you won't be disppointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment