[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
TRIBUTE TO THE 939th RESCUE WING COMMAND POST'S BRAVERY AND COOPERATION

                                 ______


                          HON. ELIZABETH FURSE

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 24, 1994

  Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, I wish to share a story of bravery and 
cooperation.
  On February 24 at 7:00 a.m. the 939th Rescue Wing Command Post in 
Portland, OR received a call from Coast Guard Station Astoria 
requesting assistance for a woman who was hemorrhaging aboard a Greek 
freighter 250 miles off the mouth of the Columbia River.
  The weather was dismal with poor visibility, high winds and seas. The 
Coast Guard helicopters did not have the range to make the rescue. The 
939th's H-60 had the ability to go the distance but would require three 
visual contact refuelings to make the round trip.
  What unfolded was a drama of hair-raising proportions. With a Coast 
Guard jet flying weather reconnaissance, two Air Force helicopters and 
a tanker hovering above the freighter, clouds closing in and daylight 
failing, a pararescueman rapelled to the deck and secured the patient 
for a lift in a wire basket. The patient was taken to Portland, the 
closest hospital site weather permitted, where she was treated and 
released several days later.
  What this event illustrates is not solely the saving of one woman's 
life. That was the goal of the mission. A success. But it was 
accomplished only through an intermeshing of skills, of well maintained 
equipment, of command coordination, of personal bravery. It graphically 
illustrates the value of dual use: prepared military personnel serving 
both civilian and defense agendas.
  If we all lived with such courage, bravery and in a spirit of 
cooperation, our nation could overcome so many of our challenges today. 
The men and women involved with this rescue have given us a role model 
to follow. I commend them all.

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