Airmen saving the world
Eggs sends us a link to the story of eight Airmen who came up on a 19 vehicle accident in Arizona and set to work pulling victims from the massive wreckage;
Unlike in battle, where the airmen are prepared with proper equipment, these men had to make do with scraps and rubble.
“Cardboard boxes on the side of the road to make splints,” another airmen, David said. “Rolls of tape, you know. Whatever we could get.”
They went from vehicle to vehicle trioging victims at least 30 minutes before any advanced medical teams arrived, trying desperately to calm the injured down.
Airman Wes remembered talking to a driver who felt guilty about the crash.
He said while he was focusing on making sure the victim was okay, he also wanted to distract the man from his distress.
“[I asked] him about himself…get his name and reassure him that we’re going to get him out of there.”
After Dave rescued another man from his car, he recalled how happy the man was to see all of the airmen by his side.
“When he was able to see that there was actually people there to help, he was really…the look on his face was really grateful.”
The men helped medical helicopters land, and when they knew the paramedics had the scene under control, they quietly slipped away.
Firefighters on scene told Nine On Your Side that night, that they wish they could have said thank you, and they weren’t sure what they would have done without them.
According to DVIDS they were PJs of the 48th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
The video of the interview with the eight heroes autostarts below the jump;
Category: Air Force, Real Soldiers
PJs.
“That Others May Live”
NO truer words have ever been spoken.
God Bless these guys.
Well done, men. Expected from a group of PJs – but still, well done. Kudos.
PJ’s are some of my personal heroes. Thank you guys.
How fortunate for those crash victims that these PJs were there to help them! Outstanding work gentleman!!
Hmmm. Difficult to not think of angels being exactly where they needed to be.
Bless them all.
I was USAR in Arizona, and I also did Helo EMS out there, and I can’t even begin to tell you how proud of these Airmen I am for the conditions they charged into.
There are few scarier, or more overwhelming feelings than being alone on a scene without enough people or equipment to help in a MASCAL like that.
The Arizona desert is vast, harsh and unforgiving, but when they were needed, they put the safety of the public first and in the finest of traditions of the US military did what they could.
These young men deserve Soldiers Medals, (or whatever the AF equivalent is) at the least.
@5: Yep.
ANCCPT: the USAF equivalent is the Airman’s Medal.
Like the Soldier’s Medal, the Airman’s Medal also requires noncombat heroism – which typically equates to the recipient experiencing personal risk of injury or death during the event in question. The acts performed here might or might not qualify, depending on the circumstances. But I agree that some formal recognition is warranted. IMO at least an AFCM should be a given (and IMO a MSM wouldn’t be out of the question) even if the guys involved experienced no substantial personal risk.
It’s great to see this story coming out of Arizona rather than the embarrassing phony travel claim scam from a couple of weeks ago.
PJs doing what they do, where ever they are, with whatever they have.
If they weren’t in danger themselves it may not warrant an Airmen’s Medal. But the Vanguard Award is given annually for airmen who save lives in non-combat situations.
Well, like I said, having worked EMS in that desert, on that stretch of freeway, I can definitely say that there was considerable personal danger. Uncontrolled accident scene; Not enough PD to secure it. Air med units grounded due to the dust storm, Ground med units 30-45 min away at the earliest. Leaking fuel with hot wiring in the wrecks. No medical equipment or PPE. Panicky people running around with unknown injuries. Might sound somewhat familiar to some of you guys out there….
I’m IRR now, and don’t fly EMS anymore and so am WAY out of the loop, but I know what it’s like in that situation, it sucked ass even fully kitted up with everyone on deck and all the help I needed. It’s be dangerous as hell even with all the proper gear and people. I hope their chain of command does the right thing and gets these guys the recognition they deserve.
And @ Eggs: Word. The AZANG and AZNG are good guys; Hard charging, patriotic soldiers. They deserve better than they’ve gotten for leadership.
@11 – I hear you. My girlfriend’s brother is a full timer over at the 162nd, we’ve picked up a couple of their folks here on the AF reserve side and they are good people to have around.
Very well done, PJ’s! And bet your ass those men should be the recipients of a commendation medal.
ANCCPT: not denigrating the guys, amigo. They did a great thing. Just indicating how an awards board might view the situation.
The men involved IMO definitely deserve something in the way of public recognition for this one. The USAF will decide if the risk/heroism was sufficient for award of the Airman’s Medal, or if a different award for non-heroic meritorious conduct is more apropos.
No better group of Airmen to roll up on havoc … BRAVO ZULU!
Hondo: I know you weren’t. I was pointing out that there is indeed risk in any first responder situation, this one more than most. I hope the awards board knows that as well. That said, if the board for the awards are from Luke or Davis-Monthan AFB, they know damn well how nasty it can get out there in that big ass desert. Add in the mangled wreckage of 15-18 cars with who the hell knows what cargo the trucks were carrying….Well. Lets hope the United States military’s famous proclivity for stupidity when it comes to treating the enlisted well doesn’t once again rear it’s head.
I want people to be recognized for their deeds. As an officer I fought and fought to get awards through, but my command structures had such different ideas on what deserved recognition. It’s enough to drive a person to insanity trying to get his enlisted people taken care of and then to be told ‘That’s just doing their job, they shouldn’t get an award for that’ when the soldiers that were right beside them (but in a different command structure) get decorated for doing the exact same thing. I sincerely hope it’s different in the the AF; because the way things work in the Army sucks ass. I was at times when I was an LT related to saying to my soldiers: “Listen man, you did a hell of a job. I put you in for a (whatever), but until that goes through or doesn’t, Let me buy you lunch, and know that I think you excelled in your performance.”
I never expected to see angels wearing camouflage.
That stretch of freeway in the Arizona desert is the most deadly in the entire state. Winds were gusting at 30+ mile an hour and even at our work which was 20 minutes away, visibility was basically nill. I can t tell how bad the blowing dust gets, but its as bad as haboobs in the Middle East. Its just a monster.
I ve been in one before and I tell you its the scariest thing when you are travelling at 75 miles an hour, and the visibility drops in less than 3 seconds. You have to be quick, cautious, and get the hell out of the way otherwise things like this happen.
Lastly, to our PJ brethen, good on you. You rose to the occasion and performed admirably. I cannot even begin to imagine the graditude expressed by the families of those they were able to save.
They often do, PintoNag. Just ask anyone MEDEVACed from the battlefield what their angel was wearing.
@19 I would imagine you’re absolutely correct on that, Hondo.
If these guys applied thier craft, put their own lives at risk and prevented people from dying … they deserve an appropriate award.
The Navy’s equivelant is the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for non-combat heroic deeds.
Non-Military US Govt Medals include two for life saving, they are often used in USCG:
NON-MILITARY AWARDS (U.S. Decorations)
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Citizens Medal
National Security Medal
National Sciences Medal
Gold Life Saving Medal
Silver Life Saving Medal
Medal for Merit
BRAVO ZULU guys. Its nice to know we have folks who will go out of their way when needed to help. Many thanks. May we be worthy
Well done, PJ’s! Well done indeed!
Everybody think of the odds of 8 PJs driving on that road at that time. People say that there are no miracles in our time. Joe