Michael Yon: “Every day is a “National Geographic” day. Afghanistan is incredible.”
Michael Yon continues to provide the best war reporting of our generation. And it’s not even close.
This report from Afghanistan on the Air Force “Pedro” rescue helicopters is just another example, and the images are amazing, too.
The pilots swoop in for the patient. There is only one thing that British soldiers love more than mail and that’s Pedro. When I told British soldiers from 2 Rifles that Pedro was going to take me, many British soldiers asked me to say “thank yous” to the Pedros. The Pedros are a great morale booster because we know when we take casualties, Pedro is coming with miniguns and incredible medics. When other helicopters are grounded by bad weather, Pedro goes. When bullets are flying, Pedro comes in with miniguns blazing. They also rescue Danish, Americans, and others, including contractors and Afghan civilians sometimes.
We picked up a British patient from 2 Rifles, one of my favorite infantry units. The British are more sensitive about casualties than Americans (many Americans don’t care about photos if they are wounded, though some do). Although I was not embedded with the Brits and so do not have to follow British rules, I respect the soldiers.
Compare that with how the AP treats dead and wounded soldiers.
As a former Combat Medic, I still hold a special affinity for other medics, from all branches. The motto of Pararescue: “That Others May Live.” … and they mean it.
Our motto was “Fighting to save your life.” And we meant it, too.
More from Yon:
The last mission. Just under 400 on this tour, and I had the honor of going along. We’ll never know how many lives the Pedro crews saved this year in Afghanistan, but it was a lot. A book could be written about their tour, but alas, this is likely about all the recognition they will ever get. The two crews that I did missions with were:
Pedro 35
Maj Mathew Wenthe
1Lt Josh Roberts
CMSgt Rick Nowaski
TSgt Christopher Gabor
Capt Dave Depiazza
TSgt Tom Pearce
SrA Eric MathiesonPedro 36
Maj Mitzi Egger
Capt Adam Tucci
MSgt James Patterson
SrA Adrian Jarrin
SSgt Joe Signor
SrA Anthony Daroste
SrA Alejandro Serrano
Thank you all.
Yon is daily embarrassing the rest of the so-called reporters in our media. In a fair world, the man would be awarded a Pulitzer Prize every single year he’s embedded.