UPDATE:
The parents of the baby girl born aboard the C-17 as it made its final approach into Ramstein Air Base, Germany, have named her “Reach” after the aircraft’s call sign, “Reach 828.”
Gen, Todd Wolters, the head of U.S. European Command, told reporters:
And as you can well imagine, being an Air Force fighter pilot, it’s my dream to watch that young child called Reach grow up and be a U.S. citizen and fly United States Air Force fighters in our Air Force.
8 US bases in Europe – several in Germany, one in Spain and another in Kosovo – are prepared to accept as many as 25,000 Afghan refugees while processing before resettling in the U.S.
Original Story:
As the August 31 Afghanistan evacuation deadline looms forebodingly, the stories and images out of that wretched country may become increasingly heartbreaking.
But there are still some positive stories and heartwarming images reaching us.
Here are some:
• The last reported 24-hour period saw approximately 19,000 people evacuated out of Afghanistan aboard “42 U.S. military flights — 37 C-17s and 5 C-130s —with some 11,200 evacuees, and an additional 48 coalition flights carrying 7,800 people out of the country.”
• Since August 14, about 58,000 American citizens, civilian allies, Afghan special immigrant visa applicants and other vulnerable Afghans have been taken out of harm’s way, according to the Department of Defense.
• To date, the U.S. and its allies have evacuated more than 88,000 people, with more than 82,000 of those in the last nine days, including approximately 4,000 American passport holders plus their families.
• Other countries are pitching in: The Emirates and Kuwait have agreed to host 5,000 Afghans for about 10 days before routing to their next transit point, or perhaps back to Afghanistan. Qatar agreed to host 8,000. Bahrain is permitting overflights, and “its national carrier Gulf Air operated a flight from Isa Air Base to Dulles International Airport outside Washington on Monday as part of evacuation efforts.” according to Reuters via Defense One.
• In the United States, four U.S. military installations — Fort Lee, Virginia; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey — are now playing host to evacuees from Afghanistan.
• At least 30,000 Afghans may be resettled in the United States in the coming weeks and months.
• It was at first feared that some states would object to resettling large numbers of Afghan refugees. However, there turns out to be little opposition. Even states with Republican governors such as Iowa, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont and Utah have said their states are ready to assist Afghan refugees.
• In my own home state, Texas, Refugee Services of Texas expects to resettle 574 Afghans across Texas in the next few weeks.
We have all seen with sheer amazement the image of hundreds of men, women and children being air evacuated out of Afghanistan on August 15, virtually filling every nook and cranny of a gigantic C-17 Globemaster (below).
It was first reported that the aircraft was transporting 640 Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The C-17 typically flies with a maximum of about 300 people when outfitted for large passenger loads using pallets with seats.
Except for a C-17 flight evacuating 670 residents out of Tacloban, Philippines, following Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2012, the Kabul flight would have set a new record.
But hold on. The C-17 leaving Kabul on August15 was carrying not 640, but 823 souls!
Air Mobility Command announced that the initial count inadvertently included only adults. However, 183 children were also aboard
The 183 children included the sleeping toddler covered by loadmaster Airman 1st Class Nicolas Baron’s jacket (below).
Finally, remember the baby that was born to an Afghan woman in a C-17 cargo bay when it arrived at Ramstein Air Base, Germany? (below) Well, at least two more babies have been born during evacuation flights out of Kabul.
DoD points out the children are not eligible for American citizenship because they were born on a military plane. “A U.S.-registered aircraft outside U.S. airspace is not considered to be part of U.S. territory. A child born on such an aircraft outside U.S. airspace does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of the place of birth,” according to the State Department.
We posted some inspiring images from Afghanistan here. For additional heartrending images of our military performing admirably under the most difficult circumstances, please click here.
