Patriot Wing Delivers 20 tons of Humanitarian Aid to Guatemala

  • Published
  • By SSgt. Kelly Goonan
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA --  An 11-member Westover crew flew 20 tons of humanitarian aid to Guatemala City, Guatemala March 9, 2014. The cargo included an ambulance, a bus, two pallets of corn and other medical supplies which were picked up from Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio and Joint-Base Charleston, S.C.

Humanitarian aid missions, like these, are made possible by the Denton Amendment, a state department program that allows the Air Force to deliver donated humanitarian aid on a space-available basis worldwide.

After a four-hour flight with language hurdles along the way between the aircrew and host nation, an intensely crowded city appeared in the mountainous Guatemalan terrain. High rise buildings appeared to hug each other. Houses seemed to be on top one another littered with clothes lines draped along their porches.

The Westover Galaxy touched down on the 9,800-foot runway of La Aurora International Airport. Shortly after arrival, two large trucks, equipped with armed police, came to assist in the off-loading of the C-5's cargo. The Mission of Love volunteers shook hands and hugged each member of the Patriot Wing aircrew. Everyone broke out in applause.

"We were just so happy to see the crew and cargo," said Kathy Price, Mission of Love founder and director.

Price's foundation is the largest non-governmental organization user of the Denton Program in the United States. She said they have delivered aid to five continents throughout the world.

The cargo delivered by the Patriot Wing will be put to good use.

"I'll be delivering the wheelchairs to children with cerebral palsy, and washing and waxing the ambulance and bus for the presentation to the Mayan communities," she said. They'll go to Way-bi, a Children's Hospice in Tecpan, Guatemala, which serves terminally ill children.

The ambulance will service 80,000 Mayan Indians and will be the only one of its kind in the region while the school bus will provide transportation to 13,000 Mayan children for education.

The Denton Amendment mission brought a sense of accomplishment and pride to the entire aircrew.

"It's this kind of mission that makes everything that you have to do back at home station worth it," said TSgt. Daniel Orcutt, 337th Airlift Squadron Loadmaster.

Due to Guatemalen equipment limitations, about 800-pounds of corn had to be broken down from the two pallets and hand-carried off the C-5. The Westover crew and volunteers worked alongside each other, completing the task in less than 15 minutes.

"When we distribute the corn the Mayan Indians, mothers cry with gratitude," said Price. "Because the corn is so valuable we need a police escort 65 miles to their community." The corn will service thousands of Mayan Indian families, who use the vegetable as their only staple to make tortillas.

"Everybody in Tecpan will benefit from this Mission of Love cargo, no exceptions," she said.

Witnessing this humanitarian effort made me realize several things. In our military lives, we sometimes get wrapped up in completing CBT's, attending meetings and updating training records that it's easy to forget why we joined the world's greatest Air Force in the first place. After reading the Mission of Love mission statement, I stopped in my tracks. The hectic world around me seemingly slowed down and I took that minute to soak in everything that was going on around me in Guatemala. It was a human spectacle. Hugs, huge smiles, laughter and high fives were spreading around the Westover C-5 like wild fire.

"You are not here to save the world but to touch the hands that are within our reach." - Mission of Love Foundation, mission statement.