Air Force dentist aids Colombian people

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates
  • Air Force Print News
POPAYAN, Colombia (AFPN) --  On Sept. 11, 2001, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Gary Geracci was in the middle of packing for a TDY when he received a call from his mother saying the World Trade Center had been attacked. 

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere," she said. 

Like so many others who witnessed the tragic events of 9/11, Colonel Geracci remembers that day like it was yesterday. 

Now, five years later, the colonel was once again preparing for a TDY Sept. 11. This time he is in Colombia as part of an Air Force medical team performing a Medical Readiness Training Exercise, or MEDRETE. 

During this exercise the colonel, who is an oral surgeon assigned to the 55th Medical Group at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., is providing free dental care to people in the country who normally have very little and very poor medical treatment options. He will offer free exams, tooth extractions and basic oral surgeries to patients in need of dental services. 

"It's a pretty good feeling to come here and know we are providing much-needed services to these people," he said. "We will make an impact on many of them they will probably never forget. That's a feeling you can't beat." 

Aside from giving aid to people in need, the colonel said he also enjoys being able to work alongside his counterparts from foreign nations. 

"I love the interaction that occurs between our staff and the host nation's," he said. "I get to work with a Colombian military dentist during this exercise and I enjoy that type of collaboration. We can both learn from each other and enhance our skills and knowledge." 

Colonel Geracci is no stranger to this type of exercise. He's a MEDRETE veteran who has participated in several during his career, including a recent one in a remote area of the African nation of Chad. 

"Part of being a medical professional, and in the military for that matter, is a strong desire to help people," he said. "These exercises give us the chance to serve people in some unique and austere environments. Most of these people would never be able to receive this type of medical care without us showing up." 

The desire to serve is something the colonel takes very serious. One might even say it's in his blood. His father serves as a military dentist and his brother is an Army flight surgeon. 

When the time came, Colonel Geracci decided to follow his family's path and joined the Air Force as an oral surgeon, a job he's performed for eight years now. 

"I've enjoyed every minute," he said. 

And so on the anniversary of a day that five years ago brought pain and terror to the world, Colonel Geracci is far from home spreading a message of hope and goodwill.

He may even pull a tooth or two.