One American Airman's thoughts on saving 640 Afghani's on cargo plane
Facebook post.
Kati Grabham is feeling emotional.
When we speak in aircraft numbers, and specifically of numbers onboard, we use the term “souls”. How many souls are onboard. Soul - the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life.
We don’t say “Americans” or “refugees” or “foreign nationals”. We say souls. Because to us, souls are what matter. “Souls” denotes humans and discounts all of the other adjectives we like to use to “qualify” people.
My prayers are with the C-17 crew that departed the Kabul Int’l Airport today. They had to make heart wrenching decisions. The aircrew had to taxi past hundreds of souls they couldn’t save. And knew they may have no choice but to run over the ones who would not vacate the tarmac, those running alongside and in front of the plane. The loadmasters had to shut the doors on panicked people - humans desperate for assistance - because their aircraft was overloaded, over weight and out of space. Crew chiefs had to inspect main landing gear wheel wells, hopeful not to find the remains of those who - in a last ditch effort to flee - may have stowed away there only to perish once the gear retracted.
When the crew of Reach 817 mission planned for this, they could not have known the sheer volume of life or death decisions they would have to make on this day. And they will have to live with the physical, mental, moral and psychological trauma of this singular mission forever. But they did more than we could have asked them to, in a situation none of us could have prepared them for, and they did it well.
I am incredibly proud to be a part of an Air Force comprised of ordinary Airmen doing extraordinary feats during unimaginable times. I am praying for this crew - and all the crews just like them - that they have all of the love and support they need today and into the future.
No one should be called on to do what they had to do, but when the call came, they did exactly what needed to be done. And that is all we as Airmen can ever ask of each other.
Comments (4)
How about this for a solution regarding the Western World, Western Values and REAL refugees in time of need especially from the 'wannabee asylum' economic migrants fleeing to our Western shores. Only accept Afgans that need our assistance as opposed to FAKE refugees that pretend to hate western values whilst not actually contributing.
AOC springs to mind. The Muslim that married her brother from Minnesota is another point of reference and probably the movie stars in their ivory towers to but at least they 'look compassionate'.
Here's an ultimate solution. Trade the REAL refugees for the FAKE refugees to the taliban/isis and just sit back and watch the likes of AOC and her cohorts squirm whilst pretending to be 'oppressed'.
If they're among those who worked with the Western Allies -
They may've opted Wisely & they're the Lucky Ones ...
Now, I'm as red-white-and-blue as you come, but our troubles, and especially our allies' troubles begin whenever Leftists like Biden / Harris / Pelosi / Schumer grab the tiller.
No doubt you're a seasoned Citizen enough to remember how we cut Nationist China loose in 1949, Eastern Europe in the 1950's, along with Cuba, SE Asia, Southern Africa, Central America, Iran and no doubt other places, handing them over to Communists or radical Muzz.
Projection of Weakness has dire consequences for those on the front lines.
You keep losing front lines, it's going to arrive on our front lawn.
Woe to the Good people of this Earth.