Everyday heroes matter

not every story you run across in the crazy news is about crazy people destroying things and bragging about their virtue.
Here is one for you to remember that there are good people in the world:

The pilot was standing around as I got out of my wheelchair to board my flight to Portland. He followed me and the flight attendant who volunteered to carry my bag. I fling myself into my seat. He quickly asked, “were you in the military.” I replied “yes.”He said, “Afghanistan 2010?” Again, although surprised this time, I said slowly “yessss.”He then told me that he recognized me, my injuries, and my face. He told me he never knew if I survived or not.Marc Vincequere is his name. He flys w United now. Crazy small world. He was the pilot that flew me out of Afghanistan.

I ran across this story in a comment on Instapundit, but it was also posted last year on several sites including this one: LINK which has a longer version of the story as written and a link to Todd Love's facebook page.

and here is a story in the local newspaper about the pilot's 21 year Air Force career, (AFNG) written at the time of his retirement. 

What is not made clear in that story:
Many of the best pilots in the Air Force are these civilian pilots who join the National Guard units, which are considered a part time military job. These pilots are often are called into active duty when the need arises, both in war and in civilian emergencies.

Here is the Wikipedia page on the 243d Airlift wing and here is a link to their Facebook page

Few Americans know about the various types of National Guard units, which are usually under the governor's authority but can be called up as part of the military by the federal government... indeed,  many of these in the NG have specialties that caused them to be called up for Afghanistan or Iraq wars. (medicine, mechanics, police work, water supply).

But they are also called up for civilian emergencies.

Right now the MSM is busy smearing them for when they were called up to stop rioters from destroying people's stores and houses, because hey, the MSM is on the side of the rioters.

and frequently you hear them sneered at as "weekend warriors" by the elite who know nothing about what they do.

The elite MSM ignores these stories but usually the local press covers these stories.

For example, this story  describes what the PANG does in that state: 

The PNG routinely responds to domestic emergencies...(including) search and rescue; distribution of food, supplies and equipment; transporting critical health care workers to health care facilities; assisting with evacuating and transporting citizens to shelters; clearing roads of debris; and prepping for post-storm recovery.

 Most recently, members of the PNG on the Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team (PA-HART) helped to rescue two motorists stranded in rapidly rising water in Berks County during flooding caused by Tropical Storm Isaias. In addition to the rescue, a Pennsylvania Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter and crew members accompanied by PA-HART members helped search for a missing person in the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. A total of 100 PNG members responded during Isaias.

and the NG is also being called up for Covid testing work. LINK LINK2 Notice that both these stories are in rural areas where there is a dearth of local health resources to do this.


note: I was in the National Guard for a few years in the 1990s so am a bit familiar with their work.