Medevac crew refused to give up on saving Army Ranger

Medevac crew receives valor awards following harrowing rescue mission

STARS AND STRIPES
By CHAD GARLAND
Published: January 11, 2019

Under fire and carrying a badly wounded patient, the Black Hawk helicopter was just lifting off an Afghan battlefield when the crew chief saw an Army Ranger in the landing zone get shot and drop to the ground.

The Black Hawk darted back to evacuate the fallen Ranger.

From left: Sgt. Armando Yanez; Spc. Emmanuel Bynum; Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Six; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan Cole; and Capt. Benjamin Krzeczowski 101ST CAB, WINGS OF DESTINY/FACEBOOK

Spc. Emmanuel Bynum, thinking quickly, directed the pilot to make an emergency landing on a dusty patch masked from most enemy fire. They still took fire — in all, about two dozen rounds to the helicopter, which would become nearly unflyable.

After the wounded Ranger was loaded, the Black Hawk lifted off. But there was more danger to come as they flew from Paktia province toward a base in Logar province dozens of miles to the north.

For their courage during the July operation, Bynum and four other aircrew members received the Distinguished Flying Cross with valor during a Jan. 5 ceremony officiated by Gen. Scott Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Each of the five “completely disregarded his own safety” and refused to leave Army Ranger Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz and an unnamed casualty on the battlefield, award citations said.
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U.S. Medevac Helicopter Hit, Special Forces Soldier Killed 2 Wounded

46 minutes ago BREAKING NEWS
US servicemember killed in attack in Helmand
Stars and Stripes
By Tara Copp and Heath Druzin
Published: January 5, 2016

KABUL, Afghanistan — One U.S. servicemember was killed and two others were injured Tuesday during operations in Afghanistan's Helmand province, a military spokesman confirmed.

The servicemembers, along with their Afghan counterparts, were involved in a firefight and a mortar attack on a U.S. medevac helicopter, according to U.S. officials.

"U.S. special forces were conducting train advise and assist with their Afghan counterparts," said Col. Michael Lawhorn, spokesman for the international military coalition in Afghanistan.

Details were still forthcoming, but a statement released by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan confirmed one U.S. servicemember died as a result of the incident and two others were injured.

A medevac helicopter responding to the attack was struck by a mortar while it was on the ground supporting the forces, U.S. defense officials said. Lawhorn said the helicopter was not shot down.
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Vietnam Veteran Healing PTSD with Sea Knight

Patriots Point helicopter brings Vietnam vet face to face with war traumas
The Post and Courier
Schuyler Kropf
Aug 30 2014

Tinley had a lot to overcome. There was survivor's guilt and most nagging on his conscience was that the body of a very close friend was taken out with him on that 1967 flight.

"The more you actually confront something, the more it helps you," said Roger Tinley, whose treatment for PTSD involves visits to the same type helicopter - a twin-rotor Sea Knight undergoing refurbishment at Patriots Point - that airlifted him to safety after being wounded in Vietnam in 1967.
WADE SPEES/STAFF

The nightmare that haunts Vietnam War veteran Roger Tinley is anchored around the helicopter ride that saved his life.

On April 21, 1967, Tinley was part of a group of young Marines sent to reinforce the Que Son District of Vietnam. It was not a good day for the Americans. They faced heavy numbers of North Vietnamese and casualties ran high.

Tinley, a radio operator, was wounded by a grenade in the close-quarter fighting and spent that night helping to fend off the attacking forces as best that he and the rest of his group of Marine riflemen could.

When the shooting finally stopped, Tinley was medically evacuated on a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, the familiar tube-shaped workhorse chopper that's carried aloft by two giant whirling rotors.

But Tinley wasn't alone on the flight out. The bodies of eight other Marines killed in the fighting were packed inside with him. "Why me?" Tinley thought to himself as the ride's only survivor.

Decades would pass until he faced the chopper again.
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Retired Medevac pilot reflects on 27-year Army career

Medevac’s memories: Retired pilot reflects on 27-year Army career
Harker Heights Herald
Bob Massey
Herald correspondent
March 28, 2014

Retired Col. Otis Evans remembers the very long and harrowing day of Dec. 1, 1968, like it was yesterday. The day began at 4:30 a.m. with a mission to extract a wounded soldier from Vietnam’s trenches.

“We received fire, but it didn’t disable the aircraft. We tried another route in and it was the worst choice we could have made,” he said. His rescue mission suffered a barrage of enemy fire, destroying the tail rotor system of his helicopter and causing the chopper to crash.

Not willing to abandon their mission, Evans and his crew loaded up another helicopter and made another attempt to that same location later in the evening when there was very little action.

Unfortunately, the soldier they were sent to retrieve was dead.

“Regardless, we were still bound and determined to bring the soldier out,” Evans said.
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Heroic efforts of Fort Carson MedEvac company save lives in Colorado floods

Heroic efforts of Fort Carson MedEvac company save lives in Colorado floods
Army
By Valecia L. Dunbar, D.M., Army Medicine Public Affairs
September 24, 2013

FORT CARSON, Colo. (Sept. 24, 2013) -- Three Army Medicine MedEvac crews from Fort Carson deployed to flood areas this week to assist in evacuation and rescue efforts.

They joined members of the Colorado and Wyoming National Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other local emergency response teams in support of flood evacuation operations.

According to Lance Blyth, U.S. Northern Command historian, the military response to the Colorado floods, dubbed "Operation Centennial Raging Waters," is likely to be the biggest rotary-wing airlift mission since Hurricane Katrina.

Operating out of Boulder Municipal airport, the MedEvac crews equipped with three Black Hawk and four Chinook helicopters flew upwards of 9.5 hours each on a single Saturday evacuation event before running out of daylight, and crew endurance. From Friday evening through Tuesday, flight crews completed several rounds of non-stop evacuations and 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, rescued/evacuated 1028 civilians and flew over 150 total flight hours.

Charlie Company Archangels flew over 75 flight hours and conducted 43 hoist missions, most of which included five or more lifts per mission in order to clear evacuation sites of all personnel, pets, and baggage. A total of 3,054 people were evacuated by military personnel as of mid September.

At the time, authorities were reporting more than 1,000 individuals were still unaccounted for, which increased concern that flight crews would start seeing patients by the time the mission was complete.
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