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REGIONAL COMMAND NORTH, Afghanistan – As Americans mark the 67th anniversary of the “D-Day” invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, U.S. Army soldiers in northern Afghanistan are building historic bonds by rescuing German soldiers injured in the fight against the insurgency.
The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division’s medical evacuation unit in Kunduz, Afghanistan provides direct support to the German ground forces stationed there, and on June 2 received an urgent request for evacuation of four seriously wounded soldiers following a roadside bomb attack on their armored vehicle. In about eight minutes the Kunduz Dustoff medical evacuation unit was airborne, en route to the bomb site, with a total of four Black Hawk helicopters.
Two Black Hawks landed within 20 minutes, picked up two urgent casualties and flew out, just as the other two Black Hawks arrived with German fire fighters aboard to extract a soldier trapped in the overturned vehicle. All told, the Dustoff unit rescued 5 wounded, four of whom were then transferred by German CH-53 GS and Black Hawk helicopters to a larger medical facility at Camp Marmal, west of Kunduz.
The German-American partnership seen in the aftermath of the bombing typifies the relationship, said U.S. Army Capt. Abigail Horvath, the Dustoff unit’s 4th Platoon Leader, Company C.
“It’s been a blessing to work with them,” she said of her German comrades. “They take the mission seriously and I have never questioned their professionalism or expertise. There’s no difference between German and American forces out here. Anybody who goes outside the wire is part of the team. Everybody inside the wire will do everything we possibly can to take care of each other.” The term “the wire” refers to the guarded perimeter of a military post in Afghanistan.
Horvath says the unit works with Belgians as well as Germans, and the separation between the three stops at the color of their uniform. “There’s no nationality,” she said. “We are all professionals and everyone is treated like a brother on the battlefield. The coalition forces on Kunduz combine to create a small-town, friendly environment.”
In the past week the Kunduz Dustoff unit also evacuated Regional Command North commander, German Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip after a bomb attack in Taloqan, with a medical response that included five German doctors, five medical teams including German and U.S. Navy personnel, eight German ambulances, four German-American litter teams and an American flight medic coordinator.
U.S. Army Col. Daniel Williams, who commands the 4th CAB based at Camp Marmal, a German-run post, said the multinational cooperation seen in his nearly year-long deployment to Afghanistan shows the true meaning of “coalition.” “We are fighting alongside, with and for Germans and 21 other nations,” Williams said, “and most importantly with our Afghan partners at all levels. We have come a long way from training exercises in Europe or even the great work done in Bosnia and Kosovo. This is real combat and we share all of the highs and lows of war with them.”
Williams said that with a White House state dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel falling just the day after the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, which was under German control, seeing such a close tie between two nations who were once at odds shows that military force in the name of peace can succeed. “I am proud to see the relationship come full circle,” Williams said. “It makes the sacrifices of our grandfathers in the name of peace worth it. We have healed.”
| Date Taken: | 06.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.07.2011 07:54 |
| Story ID: | 71690 |
| Location: | REGIONAL COMMAND NORTH, AF |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, German-American partnership in Afghanistan shows power to heal, by 1LT Alexander Babcock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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