Wing Safety Airman experiences his most memorable Thanksgiving Published Dec. 14, 2006 By Master Sgt. Bryan Ripple 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- For most people, Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for their families, good health, friends, jobs, and countless other things with meaning to them. Many gather around their dining room tables at home for a big feast with all the family's favorite holiday trimmings. A lot of people spent the entire holiday season deployed a long way from home away from their own families, but in the presence of their deployed military families. Tech. Sgt. Chad Brown, a safety technician with the 910th Airlift Wing spent the Thanksgiving holiday deployed to Abdullah Al Mubarak Air Base at the Kuwait City International Airport in Kuwait as the Chief of Safety for the 5th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron. The 35-year-old Sergeant Brown is deployed there until March. While deployed he is responsible for the Safety of everyone that comes in contact with the base, and like most people, has a lot of things to be thankful for. "I have a great family, wonderful friends, a great job, an awesome group of people to work with and great health, but this 2006 Thanksgiving is one where I've never felt more thankful, more proud or sadder than any other Thanksgiving in my life," said Sergeant Brown. "The reason being was that we received the remains of seven fallen soldiers that day," he said with solemn reflection. On Thanksgiving Day Sergeant Brown was in a 2 p.m. formation just two feet away from the U.S. flag-draped coffins as they arrived from Iraq. According to Sergeant Brown, all U.S. servicemen killed in Iraq come through Kuwait City International Airport during the trip back to the United States. Sergeant Brown said most of the fallen servicemen still have their flak vests on when his unit receives them. Brought there normally by C-130 airlift, Sergeant Brown's unit has a ceremony where they stand near the ramp while the caskets draped in U.S. flags are brought off the aircraft. "We call these events fallen angel ceremonies," he said. "Most guys only do one because they have a hard time dealing with it. Seeing sons and daughters and moms and dads being brought off the aircraft is difficult. I honestly have to fight off the emotion which is strong during these ceremonies. I don't even know the guys they bring off and couldn't tell you anything about them but I can tell you this--I do feel a special bond with them that can't be written in ink. It's tough," he said. Sergeant Brown's office is next door to the building where the fallen servicemen are brought after leaving the aircraft. A group of Army soldiers from Mortuary Affairs identifies and processes the servicemen and their personal effects. "When I see a box or a pallet with "Personal Effects of [Last Name]," I'll look at the Stars and Stripes newspaper the following week and see what U.S. deaths in Iraq we had. I normally recognize some of the names because the boxes have been there for a few days. Then I put two and two together. It hits me again that someone back home lost a loved one...I can't help but think about their families," Sergeant Brown said. Although Sergeant Brown's unit is not hit with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) or shot at every day, they still feel the events of the war just to the north of their base. "We recently had a call come in and we [5 EAMS] worked together as a team to get the Host National Kuwait Ambulances on the base to get the Kuwait Hospital Surgeons in place," said Sergeant Brown. "A man had been shot and a bullet was 5 millimeters from the man's aorta and he was doing worse in the helicopter, so they had to land and he needed surgery quickly. A bullet had ricocheted and lodged near his heart. He had also been shot in the arm and had major lacerations on his face but the bullet near his heart was causing serious problems," he said. "It's hard for me to describe what happened, but I was there to help pull him from the helicopter with two British soldiers and place him into the ambulance. I went to the hospital with him and he was in pretty bad shape. I heard later that day he was stable but have no idea what the final outcome was. This individual worked for a British security company and they were at the Kuwait/Iraq border when a check point they arrived at just didn't seem right. Well they fled and individuals dressed as Iraqi police started shooting. Their two vehicles were disabled. The injured person we received had stated that his co-worker was killed and that the other two were missing in action. He was lucky to be alive." "I know the medical folks from the 910th Medical Squadron have some unbelievable stories from their deployment too, but for this kid - me, who normally goes to work and comes home to have fun with his wife and kids... that was quite a day for me here in Kuwait," he said. After events like this, Thanksgiving Day--or any day, are likely to take on more meaning to those who experience them. For Sergeant Brown, the day he comes home to his family and friends will be a very good day indeed.