Aug. 19--A California Air National Guard crew used their life-saving skills to help rescue a sick mariner on a container ship about 900 miles from San Francisco.
The man fell ill aboard the vessel known as the Green Ridge and needed immediate medical treatment not offered on board, according to the National Guard's 129th Rescue Wing.
The crew member fainted and may have been hemorrhaging, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Because the vessel was far out in the Pacific Ocean, the 129th Rescue Wing accepted the mission and departed Tuesday afternoon from Moffett Federal Airfield in Sunnyvale.
From an MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft, four Guardian Angel rescue paratroopers parachuted into the ocean and headed toward the vessel to tend to the crew member's ailment.
"The 129th Rescue Wing's federal mission is to conduct combat rescue. But as California Guardsmen, we have a responsibility to apply our lifesaving capabilities to the homeland," Col. Gregory F. Jones, 129th Rescue Wing commander, said in a statement. "This is a prime example of how the 129th Rescue Wing and the Air National Guard are always on mission for the American people."
The rescue crew has been credited with saving 1,000 people in various regions, from deserts to snow-covered mountains.
