Capt (Sel) Tamara Archuleta
Written by ex-Pararescueman Michael H. Long, PJ 1971 thru 1982
I am enclosing the comments I made at the recent memorial ceremony at Moody AFB for my niece, 1st Lt (Captain select) Tamara Archuleta. She was the copilot of Komodo 11 that crashed in Afghanistan on a mission to rescue 2 Afghani children. I was there to honor her, but I tried to include the whole crew as well, we lost 2 PJ's on that mission. What a great loss.
My name is Michael Long. I am retired from the USAF and spent the first 11 years of my Air Force career as a Pararescueman. I have been asked by my brother, Richard Long and his wife Cindy to be here today to represent our family. They are the parents of Lt. Tammy Archuleta. Because of the funeral preparations and the grief they are experiencing now, they are unable to be here.
The deep personal loss and grief that my brother is feeling over the loss of his daughter did not prevent him from telling me to ensure that I convey to the families of the other members of Tammy's crew, that his thoughts and prayers are not just for Tammy, but for all of you as well.
I was stationed at Kirtland AFB at the PJ School when Tammy was born. She was the first child born among my siblings. I had the good fortune to see here grow during those early years before the Air Force moved me away. I was able to keep up with her growth through phone calls and letters, her success in her academic endeavors, her mastery of the Karate skills taught to her by her Sensei, (her father), and more importantly, her strong desire to become an Air Force Pilot and Officer. Tammy set high goals for herself and she seemed to be able to meet them with perseverance and hard work.
There are people in this audience today that know her professionally far better than I do, To me, she's still the little "cousin" that my daughter used to play with. But there is the other side of me who remembers my PJ days and I say to you all, I have flown many training and operational missions with outstanding Rescue pilots and I would not hesitate to have had Tammy as one of my pilots. From what I have learned from fellow members of her squadron, she was a good one.
The last time I saw her was at my daughter's wedding last year. She was so excited about her Air Force career, her future plans for her marriage to Casey, her son, Donny-and underlying all that was the desire to get out there in the world of operational missions and save some lives.
We all know why they were flying for when they crashed. They were living by the motto! The motto that I remember that got me through some tough times in my days in rescue.
"It is my duty, as a member of the Air Rescue Service, to save life and to aid the injured.
I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desire and comforts.
These things I do that others may live."
The members of this crew did not die in vain. The members of this crew were some of the finest and bravest professionals our country has in this time of need. They are everything that is right and just about America and our way of life. They were willing to fly into the dark unknown with the single-minded purpose of trying to save the life of a fellow human being, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. Theirs was a mission of peace in a time of war.
I can't say it any better than Eric Sevareid said of his rescuers in Burma in WWII---and it fits the ones we have just lost as well - "Gallant is a precious word: they deserve it."
All we have now are the precious memories of our loved ones. We need to cherish those memories and keep them with us at all times. And we have one other thing that many will never know. We have the unarguable knowledge that these wonderful people were true heroes in every sense of the word. We need to temper the sadness of their loss with the greatness of their memory.
Pilot's Death Strikes Close to
Home for Third-Graders
The Associated Press
LAKE PARK, Ga.
— The death of a Moody Air Force Base helicopter pilot in
Afghanistan struck close to home for third-graders at Georgia's Lake Park
Elementary School. 1st Lt. Tamara Archuleta of Belen, a co-pilot with the 41st
Rescue Squadron at the air base near the school, had written to the pupils just
last month in response to letters they had sent to lend their support to
military personnel overseas.
Archuleta and five other airmen died Sunday when their HH-60G Pave
Hawk crashed en route to rescue two Afghan children who had suffered severe head
wounds. The 23-year-old officer had a 3-year-old son.
About two weeks ago, Stacy Scarborough's class received a package
that contained 13 letters, all from Archuleta. There was also a U.S. flag with a
certificate saying it had flown over Uzbekistan during Operation Enduring
Freedom in honor of the Lake Park third-grade class.
"I think at that moment it all came together —
the description of the flag being flown over there. The children were very
excited," Scarborough said. "It meant a lot to them."
The flag hangs on the wall in Scarborough's classroom and will be
flown permanently at the school shortly after spring break to honor all the men
and women in the military.
The students started writing in January, and each has sent three to
four letters. Scarborough told the children they might not receive replies
because the troops were so busy. The package from Archuleta was more than they
expected. "The fact that she wrote each individual, they picked up on that and
knew how special that was," the teacher said.
Landon Luke, 9, wrote his first letter to a military person
overseas and started it off with "Dear Soldier." "I told them about myself and
my hobbies," he said. When he read Archuleta's description of what the 41st did,
he was amazed. "I was proud, and I felt good," he said.
Taylor Thomas, 9, also felt pride. When she learned that Archuleta was killed,
she cried. "I was very sad, because she was the very first person who had sent a
letter to us," Taylor said.
Robin White said her 8-year-old, Joseph, received his letter from Archuleta
about two weeks ago. It was dated Feb. 23. Archuleta responded directly to him
and mentioned how her son liked Scooby Doo, too.
Joseph learned of Archuleta's death Tuesday morning when he saw the
story in the newspaper, his mother said. "He was stunned," she said. "The person
he wrote to and received a letter from was his first encounter with death. I
told him our troops are defending our country, and they are willing to die for
their country. "It's got our whole family thinking about her. We didn't know
her, but now we feel like we did," she said.
Letter From Pilot Archuleta to a
Third-Grader
Here is one of the letters written to
third-graders at Lake Park Elementary School in Georgia by Air Force helicopter
pilot Tamara Archuleta before she was killed in a crash in Afghanistan:
Dear Joseph,
I am a pilot in the 41st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, of the United States Air
Force. We are based out of Moody AFB in Valdosta, Georgia. We are currently
covering the Afghanistan theatre in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and
the Anti-Terrorism Task Force.
Our squadron has a very special job. We fly HH-60G Pave Hawk
helicopters in combat search and rescue. We go behind enemy lines to cover
downed personnel and isolated troops.
In peacetime, we do civilian rescues for people that are lost and
hurt at sea, or in the mountains and need to get to a hospital. That is a lot of
what we have been doing here to help show the people of Afghanistan that we are
here to help them.
Thank you so much for the card! It was very nice of you to write the troops here
a letter. I hung your cards up on the wall so that everyone can look at them and
read your letters! My son likes Scooby Doo, too. Keep working hard in school and
you can be anything you want to be when you grow up!
Sincerely,
Tamara Archuleta
1LT, USAF 41st Rescue Squadron
Director of Training