Posted on 07/03/2007 4:05:58 PM PDT by bad company
WASHINGTON Giving up his seat to a wounded soldier, an Army officer strapped himself to the side of an Apache helicopter gunship that airlifted them out of a furious firefight in Iraq, the military said Monday.
The Army called it an "unusual casualty evacuation," but Chief Warrant Officer Allen Crist's selfless act goes way beyond heroism.
Realizing that Spc. Jeffrey Jamaleldine needed medical attention fast, Crist put the critically wounded man in his own spot on the Apache on Saturday.
Crist then rigged a harness to strap himself to the fuselage and crouched on the stubby left gun wing of the aircraft.
With Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Purtee, of Houston, at the controls and Crist hanging on for dear life, the Apache flew out of the battle zone. It kept low, about 200 feet, until it reached a field hospital, the military said.
Jamaleldine, 31, of Fort Smith, Ark., was later reported in stable condition.
Army officials could not immediately recall an Apache ever being used before for a medical evacuation and certainly not with the co-pilot riding outside.
Crist and Purtee, from Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment, were part of a four-Apache team that came to help U.S. troops pinned down under heavy fire in Ramadi.
Great Big Brass ones.....
Wow.
CWO Crist, you are a class act!
And I bet his decision process took less time than a blink of your eye.
Enormous ones. Outstanding work, CWO Crist.
Yeah, I forgot the chaingun.
There is a guy with supreme confidence in his equipment and pilot. He literally let it all hang out for a wounded buddy. Liberals and anti-American politicians can never understand that kind of sacrifice. You’d never see a soldier/Marine do that for his congressman.
PRESENT ARMS!!
We have the finest fighting force ever to grace the planet. Salt of the earth and fierce, what a combination!
Ping.
I know you have not posted since April of 2004 and hope you are safe and well. Your comments concerning Army aviation are missed.
Americans doing jobs only Americans want to do.
I’m shocked that this was even possible from a physical standpoint. I guess these new fangled helicopters have much different controls than the old ones I was used to.
Way to go CWO!
WOW! What a selfless act for a fellow soldier. This man is a hero!
There are men and then there are men like CWO Crist. Them ain’t the bells of St Mary’s that ring when he jogs.
http://media.militaryphotos.net/photos/cobra_transports_sf
Related:
Apache Pilots Save Comrades in Daring Rescue - 11 Nov 2004:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=24921
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