Shaffer
09-13-05, 06:37 AM
In one of the many great acts of heroism to emerge from the Hurricane Katrina tragedy, a crew of “Blue Knights” from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-365 became knights in shining armor when they rescued a group of New Orleans residents, including a one-year-old child, from a downtown building that had been surrounded by the floodwaters.
Two CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters from HMM-365 deployed as part of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron-461 (-) rein. in support of Joint Task Force Katrina. Their mission has been to deliver food, water and supplies and to help evacuate citizens stranded in the city.
According to Sgt. R. Jason Dagenhart, HMM-365 avionics technician and rescue swimmer, the rescue began when they saw a man making the “international baby symbol” of rocking his arms back and forth and pointing into a building.
“We tried to land, but there was too much debris,” he said. “So I went down on the hoist while the helicopter hovered at about 75 feet off the ground. I went inside, found the mother and father and their baby, and then had to come up with a game plan to get them all out.”
Dagenhart said he sent two other adults up the hoist first, then he had find a way to get the small child up without putting it in any danger.
After telling the baby girl’s parents what he planned to do, and making sure they were
comfortable with the idea, he called for parachute bag, made of a heavy nylon material, to be dropped down.
“I had the mother put the baby in the bag, hooked it up to hoist and raised the little girl up,” he said. “I sent the mom up next, followed by the father and two other guys.”
The people were then transported to New Orleans International Airport, said Capt. Clay D. Dye, HMM-365 pilot, who credits the rescue’s success to outstanding crew coordination between Dagenhart on the ground and Gunnery Sgt. John D. Kreitzer in the door of the helicopter.
“The real hero there was Sgt. Dagenhart,” Kreitzer said. “His ingenuity led me to send the bag down so we could hoist the baby up safely. I opened the bag up immediately and her big, brown eyes were staring right up at me. She wasn’t crying at all.”
Kreitzer said the experience was a bit overwhelming, but fulfilling at the same time.
“Everything came together so smoothly,” he said. “That’s why we were able to rescue those people safely and expediently.”
Two CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters from HMM-365 deployed as part of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron-461 (-) rein. in support of Joint Task Force Katrina. Their mission has been to deliver food, water and supplies and to help evacuate citizens stranded in the city.
According to Sgt. R. Jason Dagenhart, HMM-365 avionics technician and rescue swimmer, the rescue began when they saw a man making the “international baby symbol” of rocking his arms back and forth and pointing into a building.
“We tried to land, but there was too much debris,” he said. “So I went down on the hoist while the helicopter hovered at about 75 feet off the ground. I went inside, found the mother and father and their baby, and then had to come up with a game plan to get them all out.”
Dagenhart said he sent two other adults up the hoist first, then he had find a way to get the small child up without putting it in any danger.
After telling the baby girl’s parents what he planned to do, and making sure they were
comfortable with the idea, he called for parachute bag, made of a heavy nylon material, to be dropped down.
“I had the mother put the baby in the bag, hooked it up to hoist and raised the little girl up,” he said. “I sent the mom up next, followed by the father and two other guys.”
The people were then transported to New Orleans International Airport, said Capt. Clay D. Dye, HMM-365 pilot, who credits the rescue’s success to outstanding crew coordination between Dagenhart on the ground and Gunnery Sgt. John D. Kreitzer in the door of the helicopter.
“The real hero there was Sgt. Dagenhart,” Kreitzer said. “His ingenuity led me to send the bag down so we could hoist the baby up safely. I opened the bag up immediately and her big, brown eyes were staring right up at me. She wasn’t crying at all.”
Kreitzer said the experience was a bit overwhelming, but fulfilling at the same time.
“Everything came together so smoothly,” he said. “That’s why we were able to rescue those people safely and expediently.”