[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S11377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ALASKA NATIONAL GUARDSMEN RECEIVE MACKAY TROPHY

 Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I would like to take this time 
to pay tribute to the men of Air Force Rescue 470, from the 210th 
Rescue Squadron in the Alaska Air National Guard. These five men, 
stationed at Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage, Alaska, 
recently received the Mackay Trophy. The Mackay Trophy is given each 
year to the person or crew in the United States Air Force for what is 
considered the most meritorious flight of the year. The crew of Air 
Force Rescue 470 certainly deserve this prestigious award.
  Let me tell you a little bit about the rescue they performed which 
led to this recognition. On May 27, 1998, six people, including two 
small children, flying in the Tordrillo Mountains, suddenly crashed 
into a glacier about 10,500 feet above sea level. These people were 
trapped in their plane, with darkness coming and the temperature 
dropping. Because they were not dressed for the extreme cold that would 
come, these six people would surely not survive the night.
  Fortunately for them, they had some of the best trained, best 
equipped, and bravest men were on the way to the crash site. This was 
not an easy rescue by any means. It was already extremely cold, 
visibility was only \1/8\ of a mile, the wind was anywhere between ten 
and forty knots, and the crashed plane was high up the mountain. 
Normally any one of these factors would make a rescue attempt extremely 
risky. But Air Force Rescue 470 had to contend with all sorts of 
deterrents in order to rescue these people before nightfall came.
  The crew had to fly up to an altitude of over 12,000 feet because of 
the visibility problem. The thin air made it difficult for the 
helicopter blades to keep the aircraft aloft and for the men to 
breathe. As soon as a hole in the clouds appeared, they dove down into 
the mountainous terrain to land. The weather was only getting worse, 
and the pararescuers had only fifty minutes, because of the limited 
fuel supply, to pry open the wreckage of the downed plane, get everyone 
out, and get them all safely back to the helicopter, six hundred feet 
away. All six lives were saved.
  Mr. President, I know that the crew of Air Force Rescue 470 were 
simply happy to be serving their country on this day back in May of 
1998. I also know that they have made countless other rescues, just as 
have other Rescue units around the country. But I am especially proud 
that these fine young men of the Alaska Air National Guard were chosen 
for the Mackay Trophy. So to Lieutenant Colonel John Jacobs, the pilot, 
First Lieutenant Thaddeus Stolar, the copilot, Master Sergeant Scott 
Hamilton, Master Sergeant Steve Daigle, and Technical Sergeant Greg 
Hopkins, the pararescuers, I congratulate you. Both Alaska and the 
nation thank you for your continued efforts to save lives.

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