Reservists provide medical care on POW's return flight

  • Published
Seven Air Force reservists provided medical care aboard the C-17 Globemaster III flight that brought Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch and 45 other patients to the United States on April 12.

The crew consisted of five airmen from Wright-Patterson's 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, one from McChord AFB, Wash., and one from Charleston AFB, S.C. Together they cared for the former prisoner of war and other patients on the flight from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The C-17 arrived at Andrews AFB, Md.

The 445th AES, an Air Force Reserve Command unit, flies one or two medical evacuation flights each month to Ramstein. When the medics took off from Wright-Patterson on April 10 aboard a C-141 Starlifter, they anticipated a routine mission. Shortly after landing in Germany, the crew was reassigned to the C-17 mission.

Besides Lynch, the flight contained others wounded in Iraq and their family members ranging in age from infant to retiree.

The medical crew "worked non-stop" from the time the aircraft took off, according to Capt. Jim Kern, one of the crew members. The airmen dispensed medications, changed bandages, monitored treatment and assisted the patients to make the nine-hour flight as comfortable as possible.

"I just let (the patients) talk," said Capt. Kimm Sandusky, another crew member. "Every one had a story. I told them, 'I'm proud of you.'"

Lynch was accompanied by three medical attendants and members of her family.

"(The Lynch family) didn't like all the publicity," said Staff Sgt. Sandi Golden, another crew member from the 445th AES. "The family said that (Lynch) was just the same as all the other soldiers on the plane."

After the C-17 landed at Andrews, the patients were driven to hospitals and medical centers in the Washington, D.C., area for further medical care. Lynch went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The 445th AES medics returned to Wright-Patterson on April 13.

More than 600 reservists in the 445th AW have been activated to support the global war on terrorism, including members of the 445th AES. However, the five Wright-Patterson crewmembers who participated in the C-17 mission were not activated at that time. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)