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Honor, duty, country, sacrifice

  • Published
  • By Col. Gary Goldstone
  • 375th Airlift Wing commander
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Along Heritage Drive, behind the majestic Scott Field Gate lies the Airlift/Tanker Hall of Fame Memorial. Built seventeen years ago, the memorial pays tribute to the historic achievements of air mobility.

Perhaps, the most impressive of these achievements is the humanitarian airlift mission known as Operation Vittles where American aircraft successfully delivered more than 2.3 million tons of cargo to the residents of Berlin whose city had been land blocked from vital resources by the Soviet Union. In the course of 462 days, American aircraft covered more than 92 million miles with its crews logging nearly 600,000 hours of flight time. Operation Vittles brought national attention to the critical impact of air power, more specifically air mobility, and its ability to shape diplomatic relations.

Through its inclusion of a piece of the Berlin Wall and a replica of Berlin Tempelhof Aiport's Luftbrucke Memorial, the Airlift/Tanker Hall of Fame Memorial commemorates the significance of Operation Vittles.

The Airlift/Tanker Hall of Fame Memorial also highlights the accomplishments of more than 15 individuals whose actions fundamentally shaped the Air Force and the role of air mobility.

Making up its Hall of Fame Walkway are the busts of Airmen like Gen. Carl Spaatz, the first chief of staff of the Air Force, who commanded the Army plane "Question Mark" in its refueling endurance flight over Los Angeles. General Spaatz kept the aircraft aloft for a total of 150 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds during the historic six-day flight.

Other Airmen highlighted in the Hall of Fame Walkway include Lt. Gen. Harold George, who is recognized as the "first leader of airlift" and Lt. Gen. William Tunner known as the "father of Military Airlift Command."

The enlisted corps is also represented in the Hall of Fame Walkway by Master Sgt. Roy Hooe who served as an aircraft mechanic for Billy Mitchell during aerial gunnery and bombing tests in 1921, for Charles Lindbergh for the "Spirit of Saint Louis" goodwill mission to Mexico City in 1927 and for Gen. Carl Spaatz and Gen. Ira Eaker on the "Question Mark" flight. Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. John Levitow's heroic efforts during the Vietnam War is also recognized in the Hall of Fame Walkway.

The Airlift/Tanker Hall of Fame Walkway pays equal tribute to the early accomplishments of female aviators like Nancy Harkness Love who was instrumental in establishing the Woman's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, a predecessor unit to the Women's Air Force Service Pilots.

At the center of the Airlift Tanker Hall of Fame Memorial are three black, granite pillars that honor the air mobility mission and its airlift and air refueling core missions. A plaque for its third core mission, aeromedical evacuation, was dedicated last Thursday.

The history of aeromedical evacuation is directly tied to the early days of Scott Field. The first aeromedical evacuation mission took place Aug. 24, 1918 when a Curtis JN-4D Jenny aircraft was converted into an air ambulance to transport an aviator with a broken leg.

Ninety years later, the aeromedical evacuation mission continues. Carried out on a variety of platforms, today's aeromedical evacuation missions are highly adaptable. In support of Operation Enduring and Operation Iraqi Freedom, aeromedical evacuation crews made up of medical technicians, flight nurses, doctors, aircrews and aircraft mechanics have helped to transform aeromedical evacuation. Though their ability to deliver precise, quality medical care aeromedical evacuation crews have directly supported the continuum of care and have raised the survival rate for servicemembers wounded on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to 97 percent.

Aeromedical evacuation crews perform life-saving trauma care at places like the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base in the midst of sandstorms and insurgent fighting. They put their training and expertise to use at a moment's notice to load patients onto aircraft often not knowing in advance the type of aircraft or the challenges it presents to the patient's care. Whatever the circumstances, aeromedical evacuation crews go above and beyond to care for wounded servicemembers to ensure they get home to their families.

On the backs of the two granite airlift and aerial refueling pillars are these words - honor, duty, country, sacrifice, courage and perseverance. These words epitomized the heart and soul of the Airmen immortalized in the Airlift/Tanker Hall of Fame Memorial as well as today's Airmen - officer, enlisted and civilian.

The Airlift/Tanker Hall of Fame Memorial captures the Air Force's rich history and the proud heritage of air mobility. As the closing line of the memorial's dedication plaque reads, "We stand in awe of those who went before and paved the way - through their tenacity, dedication and hard work, we are a free world."