I ka manawa ma ka puka ākea o MC-130 Talon, huliʻo ia a nānā i hope. ʻEkahi haneli iwilei, ua iho mai kahi kaʻahua kaʻapuni i kekahi o nā ala māliuli ma Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
Hoʻopiliʻo ia i ke ao o ka lepo i kona heleʻana i ka mokulele.
Ma luna o kahi kaʻahua i ka lā kakahiaka Sabatiʻo ia kekahi hōʻailona o nā koaʻo US. Uaʻehaʻo ia i ka lā ma mua ma ke kaua hakakā me nā al Qaeda a me nā mea kaua Taliban ma ke awāwaʻo Shah-e-Kotā ma ke awāwaʻo'Akelika.
Ua nānāʻo Thomas ma loko o ka Talon. Ua hauʻoliʻo ia eʻike i ka mākaukau o ka mokulele e halihali i nā maʻi kauā me nā kaukaniʻeono. E like me kāna kauoha.
"Ua like nā mea a pau i ka maikaʻi e hele," i kāhea aiʻo Thomas i ka pepeiao o ka luna ukana. ʻO ke kaumaha, M-16-load "load" ua luliluli a hāʻawi iā ia i ka "OK" hōʻailona.
Ua lawe nā medics i ka koaʻeha i luna o ka moku. A laila, ua hōʻea maila kahi kaʻahua kaʻa hou, aʻaʻole i liʻuliʻu iʻelua o nā pūʻali i hōʻehaʻia i ka lele. Uaʻikeʻo Thomas iā lākou i ka manawa hope. Akā, ma ia manawa, ua hoʻokeleʻia eʻelua mau kauka, kahu hānai a me nā mea lapaʻau.
"Nāu a pau i kēia manawa," i haʻi aku aiʻo ia i ka maʻi mahuka holo. "E mālama pono iā 'em."
I kēia manawa ua hele nā kāne mai kona lima aku, no laila ua haʻaleleʻo Thomas i ka mokulele. Hoʻokahi haneri iwilei mai ke poʻo o Talon, ua kūʻo ia e kiaʻi. ʻOiaiʻo ia iʻauhauʻia, uaʻakaʻakaʻo ia.
ʻO Thomas, kahi kahu hānai holomua,ʻo ia kahi i makemake ai e hana, e like me kāna makemake e hana.
"Hoʻopuka wau i kahi hana. Aia ma ka waena o ke kaua i ka hoʻoweliweli - e hana i koʻuʻaoʻao, "wahi āna.
"A he māmā kēia."
ʻO ka Talon, mai Duke Field, Fla., Hoʻokuʻu i nā koa i Karshi Khanabad, Uzbekistan. ʻO ka lua o ka wā o kahi huakaʻi lōʻihi i hoʻomakaʻia me ka helikopter e holo mai ke kahua kaua. Mai ka "K-2," hele akula ka pūʻali i ka haukapila ma ka Base Air Base, Turkey. A laila ua leleʻo C-9 Nightingale iā lākou i Ramstein Air Base, Kelemānia. Mai laila mai kahi i hele ai i kahi kokoke i ka lawelaweʻana ma kahi kokoke i ka Landstuhl Army Regional Center. A, ma hope aku, i kahi halekenaʻo Stateide e hoʻihoʻi.
Hele lāua me Thomas. ʻO kahi o nā meaʻimi kūleʻa leleʻekolu ma Bagram,ʻo kāna hanaʻo ia ke kōkua i ka hoʻokuʻuʻana i ka hoʻokuʻuʻana. Nonoiʻo ia i ka mea lele aʻike pono i ka hōʻeaʻana o ka mokulele me nā lako, nā lāʻau a me nā lāʻau e pono ai e mālama i nā maʻi.
"ʻO kā mākouʻoihana ka loaʻaʻana o nā maʻi i kahi kūlana o ka mālamaʻana," wahi āna.
ʻO Thomasʻo ia me ka 137th Aequadical Evacuation Squadron o ke Keʻena Nalu o Oklahoma. Ua kapaʻiaʻo ia ma kaʻoihana ma hope o ka hopenaʻo Sepatemaba 11, ua hoʻolimalimaʻo ia i ka hapa nui o kona kaʻaʻeono mahina ma Bagram. Ua leleʻo ia ma kahi kūpono e lawelawe ma ka Operation Enduring Freedom.
ʻO Thomas 'ʻoihana kahiʻoi aku o nā kānakaʻaʻole e nānā i kahi kahu no ka mea e pili ana i nā hana holo. ʻO kēlāʻoihana a me nā mea'ē aʻe e lawe i nā kahu mai ko lākou wahi kahiko i kahi moe o kahi maʻi.
No kekahi poʻe kahu hānai, e like me Thomas, he loli maikaʻi ia, he hiki keʻike i kekahi hapa o ka Air Force a me nā kahu hānaiʻole e launa pū. Akā, i ka wā e kūʻai ai lākou ma ko lākou mau haukapila no nā'ōmaʻomaʻo'ōmaʻomaʻo, eʻikeʻole kekahi poʻe kahu hānai i ka mālama mālama hoʻokahi.
Ma keʻano he kahu hānai hana kūpono,'ōleloʻo Capt KC Vo, "I kekahi manawaʻaʻoleʻoe eʻike i keʻano likeʻole āu e hana ai no ka mea ua noho ka poʻe maʻi meʻoe no ka wā pōkole." Heʻeono a me ka hapa makahiki makahiki, leleʻo Vo i ka 86th o Ramstein Hoʻopukaʻo Aeromedical Evacuation. "No lailaʻaʻoleʻoe e hana pono, e hoʻomalu i ka moe."
Akā,ʻaʻole i nui ka poʻe noi no kaʻoihana kahu hānai. ʻO ka mea'ē aʻe. ʻOiai ka pilikia o ka Air Force ma ka hōʻiliʻili a mālamaʻana i nā kahu hānai,ʻaʻole i nui nāʻelele nāna e holo.
Ma muli o kahi mau kahu hānai 3,800 i ka Air Force, ua emi mai i lalo o 200 mau pono no nā kahu hānai, Capt.
'ōleloʻo Linda'Odom. He mea hana koʻikoʻi koʻikoʻi paʻa ia e lawelawe nei me Vo.
"Loaʻa kaʻoihana kiʻekiʻe o kaʻoihana kahu hānai - he nui ka hakakā e loaʻa ai kekahi o nā mākau," i'ōlelo aiʻo ia. Heʻumikūmālua mau makahiki a me ka hapalua makahiki,ʻo'Odom kekahi o nā kahu hānai he 32.
ʻO Odom, e like me Vo, e lawelawe ana ma kahi o nā'aueʻaʻauʻau. Mālama nā luina i nā maʻi ma ka heleʻana a ma nā kauka. Ma Ramstein, hana ka weheʻana i ka C-9 Nightingale.
Ka mana hope
Aia ma luna o ka moku, ke alakaʻi o ka 'oihana lapaʻau - he kahu hānai -ʻo ia ka' oihana lapaʻau hope loa. Na ka kahu ia e "hana i nā hoʻoponopono a me nā lāʻau lapaʻau ma kahi," i'ōlelo aiʻo'Odom. ʻAʻohe lima o nā kauka e hele i ka 24,000 kapuaʻi. 'Ānō inā he "kelepona o kou leo," i'ōlelo aiʻo ia, "e kiʻi akuʻoe i ka lekalepa a kāhea i ke kauka ma ka honua."
He kuleana nuiʻo ia, e'ōlelo anaʻo ia. ʻElua mau kahu i loko o nā pūʻali koa a iʻole nā kauka kūloko.
Ma Incirlik, ua hanaʻo Capt. Michelle Maybell i nāʻano hoʻoholo'ē aʻe. He kālepaʻo ia a he manaʻo'ē aʻe. Ma kahi o nā maʻi, ua mālama ka kahu hānai holomua i kaʻoihana medics.
"He hui ko mākou e mālama nei i nā luina a pau e hiki iā lākou ke hoʻomanaʻo i kā lākou misionari," wahi a ke kahu hānai. "Pono lākou e noʻonoʻo i kā lākou mau maʻi. ʻAʻole i ka loaʻaʻana o nā lako a me nā lāʻau lapaʻau, a pehea hoʻi e hoʻi ai i ko lākou lumi. "
Ua mālamaʻiaʻo ia me ka 31rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron ma Charleston Air Force Base, SC, ua hoʻokuʻuʻo Maybell i Incirlik i ka manawa ma hope koke iho o ka hopena o Sept. 11. ʻO kahi mea manawaleʻa, ua komoʻo ia i ka 43c Exported Life Evacuation Squadron.
Ma keʻano he alakaʻi o nā luina, ua aʻoʻo ia i kahiʻoi aʻe o kekahiʻoihana kahu hānai. He kuleanaʻo ia i kāna hana kūlokoʻole ma keʻano he kahu hānai hānai, akāʻo kahi mea e kōkua iā ia e hana maikaʻi i kēlāʻoihana. A inā makemakeʻo ia e lele,ʻo kāna hanaʻo ia he "manaʻo maikaʻi."
"Ke hoʻopuka wau i nā luina, hōʻailona iā lākou, e hoʻomaka i nā mea, a hoʻi i hope e kōkua iā lākou e hoʻopaʻa i ka hana ma kahiʻoihana, e hāʻawi mai iaʻu i ka manaʻo maikaʻi," i'ōlelo aiʻo ia. "He manaʻo no ka hana."
I ka wā i hoʻomākaukau ai nā koa Thomas i ka Talon ma Bagram e lele mai Incirlik a hiki i Ramstein,ʻo ia hoʻiʻo Maybell i loaʻa i nā medics e holo pū me lākou.
"Uaʻike au ua hana mākou i kā mākou mahele e hana i kēlāʻoihana i ka holomua," i'ōlelo aiʻo ia.
ʻO ia kahi pili i ka mālama
ʻOiaiʻoʻEulopa, ka Middle East a me ka Asia Minor kahi i hanaʻia ai kēia mau lā, e lawelawe ana nā kahu hānai ma nā wahi a puni o ke ao. ʻO kā lākou hana - a me kaʻoihana hana, nā Reserve a Guard Guard, nā meaʻonika a me nā'auwaʻa mahuʻa -ʻo ia ke hāʻawi i nā poʻe maʻi i ka lewa i ka wā e hele ai lākou i kahi haukapila.
ʻO ia kahi o ka hoʻolakoʻana i nā lālā o kaʻoihana, nā'Āina Civiliʻo Defense a me ko lākou mauʻohana i ka nui o ka mālamaʻana i ka poʻeʻAmelika e manaʻo nei, e'ōlelo anaʻo Lt. Col. Kirk Nailling. ʻO ke alakaʻi o ka 86th o nāʻoihana a me ke kahu hānai, ua'ōleloʻo ia i nā kahu hānai he kuleana koʻikoʻi i kēlā hana.
"He nui nā kānaka ma ka honua a puni e hiki iā lākou ke hana i nā kaʻina hana ola," wahi āna. "Akā,ʻo kā mākouʻoihana kēia no ka hōʻoiaʻana iā lākou i ka mālamaʻana."
Ke hōʻoia nei ka hoʻohanaʻana i ka ponoʻole. ʻO nā koa a pau oʻAmelika ma ka hakakāʻana i loko o ka hakakāʻana ma Afghanistan, ua loaʻa kahi kahu i konaʻaoʻao i ka holo kaʻa ma ka hōkele.
I nā manawa likeʻole, nā kahu hānai a me ka pilikino. ʻO ia ke kumu i ka holo muaʻana mai Incirlik a hiki i Ramstein i nāʻeha i hōʻehaʻia ma Afghanistan,'ōleloʻo Capt Brenda Parker. ʻO kekahi kahu hānaiʻo Ramstein,ʻo iaʻo ke alakaʻi o kaʻoihana kauka i kēlā holo.
"ʻO ia ke kāohi, ke kālepa, a me ke kamaʻilioʻana i kāna mea maikaʻi loa," i'ōlelo aiʻo ia. "ʻAʻole au iʻike i ka hana like like like."
ʻO kahi hana kōkua. ʻO ia ka mea e hanaʻia ai e hāʻawi i ka mālama kiʻekiʻe,ʻo ia hoʻiʻo Nailling. Aʻo kēlā mālama kula mua, he mea holomua nā kahu hānai e hāʻawi i kēlā me kēia manawa a lākou e lawe ai i ka lewa. ʻO ia, ua'ōleloʻo ia, "ʻo ia ka mea e lilo ai i kahu hānai i mea maikaʻi."
Ua puka maiʻo Thomas mai kahi'ōpiopio cubhole o kekahi lumi kahi i noho aiʻo ia me kahi kahu hānai i home. Aia ia i loko o ka mālamalama kukui a me ke hula o ka haleʻo Bagramʻo Soviet. Ua paʻiʻo ia i ka hiamoe mai kona mau maka no ka mea i loko o nā minuke i hala hou aʻe i nāʻeha.
Ua hālāwaiʻo ia me ka poʻe iʻeha. ʻO ia wale nō ka mea hiki iā ia keʻike mua i ka hopena o ka pōʻino. ʻO ia ka hana mua i kaʻikeʻana i keʻano o ka holoʻana i ka hoʻohui. Aʻo nā kauka i hana ai a pale i kaʻeha, ua loaʻaʻo Thomas i kahi ala e kiʻi iā lākou mai Bagram.
ʻO kāna ukuʻo ia kaʻikeʻana i ka poʻeʻeha i haʻalele i ka papahana, hele i ka halemai a hoʻi mai i ka home. Iā ia,ʻo ia wale nō ka mahalo nui no ka hanaʻana i kahiʻoihana - inā paha -ʻike ka poʻe.
"Ua ola kēia poʻe i ko lākou ola no mākou," i'ōlelo aiʻo ia. "He mea hauʻoli ka lawelawe iā lākou. A no ka halaʻana oʻeono mau mahina o koʻu olaʻana,ʻo ia ka mea liʻiliʻi loa e like me nā mea a lākou e hana nei. "
Nā mea ma luna o ka papahana i hoʻopukaʻia e ka Airman Magazine