Captain Christopher Ayres, USMC, (Ret.) was serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was injured at the first assault at Fallujah in April 2004. His unit was conducting combat operations against enemy insurgents who had killed four U.S. contractors from Blackwater. His unit was ambushed and sustained intense small-arms fire, light machine gun fire, and rocket fire. One of the rockets pierced the side of the vehicle Chris was riding in and lodged in the engine compartment where his right leg was situated.

Chris was medically evacuated to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas and spent 75 days in treatment. He left the hospital on a walker and with forearm crutches. It took 6 months for him to regain strength and learn to walk again.

Chris still has his right leg but the injury left him with complete loss of his right posterior thigh. He has sciatic and peroneal nerve damage in his leg and foot which causes chronic pain throughout his lower back, leg and foot. Chris also has 3rd degree burns on the right side of his body. He lost peripheral vision in his right eye and has 18 teeth cracked with calcific metamorphasis. Chris suffers from moderate TBI and has chronic PTSD.

Chris lives in Texas and has a tremendous support system with his wife Renee and three young daughters.

During 2008, Air Compassion for Veterans (ACV) provided Chris with three free flights for extensive PTSD counseling, therapy and treatment at the Pathway Home. In July 2009, ACV flew Chris, Renee and the girls to partake in a Wounded Warrior Family Support Disney vacation trip.

The most recent ACV flight was for Chris to be matched with a service dog at the Carolina Canines for Service program, just one of many service-dog programs that reach out to our wounded warriors. These remarkable dogs become an extension of their owners and bring security, freedom, independence and relief from social isolation.

Chris was matched with Titus, the seventh dog to be placed from the Carolina Canines for Veterans program. Titus came to Carolina Canines from Horry County Shelter in Myrtle Beach, SC and weighed a mere 46 pounds. Titus is now a healthy 71 pounds and was trained by the prisoners at Camp Lejeune.

Chris and Titus arrived in Texas on November 22, 2009. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays had a most special meaning for Chris and his family.

Chris began hand-cycling in June of 2007 through Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. This year he will be representing Team Operation Rebound through the Challenged Athletes Foundation in upcoming races. It is proven that adaptive sports programs offer tremendous help in the healing of body, mind and spirit. ACV will be providing Chris with flights to those events.

ACV is instrumental in making sure every aspect of the wounded warrior is treated. These amazing servicemen, women and their families have earned and deserve whatever it takes to reestablish a normal and productive life. ACV bridges the gap by making sure they can access these services.

Thank you Chris for the sacrifice you made and continue to make for our country’s freedom. We will always be there for you.

Due to new FAA restrictions at the Virginia Beach Warbird Airport and Museum, we were not able to have our huge tents to accommodate the over 2000 guests we had last year. Therefore we entertained a wonderful group of 450 VIP ticket holders for our 3rd annual fundraiser.

The event started with an exciting Warbird air demonstration and delicious Bubba’s Virginia and North Carolina BBQ. ACV then honored wounded warriors with a special Honors Ceremony.

COL Joe Rodriguez, USA (Ret) the emcee for the ceremony introduced MG Robert Dees, USA (Ret) after the posting of the colors and national anthem, MG Dees spoke about the plight of our wounded warriors and introduced SGT Eric Edmundson, USA (Ret) who was injured in Iraq on October 2nd, 2005. Due to his injuries, Eric can only speak using the aid of his computer. He spoke of his ordeal that also left him bound to a wheelchair. Eric’s main message was how proud he was to serve his country and how grateful he is to his family for their care and support. He also expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Air Compassion for Veterans (ACV) for providing multiple flights for he and his family when he needed medical and rehabilitation services. He emphasized the problems and expense of travel most wounded warriors and their families experience and how ACV eliminates that stress and financial burden. Thank you Eric for your courage and commitment to help other wounded warriors and their families.

Young John Valentine and his sister Meghan presented ACV with over $2,000 in donations in memory of their father Navy Seal Tom Valentine. This is the 3rd year the young Valentines have raised funds for ACV.

Tuskegee airman Ezra Hill gave a history of the Tuskegee Airman and had everyone on their feet with an inspirational version of “I’m Proud to be an American”.

Halos and Heroes closed with a fantastic concert by country westerns famous band Shenandoah, and history making reunion with Marty Raybon.

This was an event that will be remembered for years to come.

Put October 2nd, 2010 on your calendars for our 4th annual Halos and Heroes with special surprises in store.

Two years ago The National Education for Assistance Dog Service, Inc. (NEADS) developed a unique program for wounded warriors called Canines for Combat Vets. NEADS is a non-profit organization located in Princeton, MA. Their mission is to train dogs to assist people who are deaf or disabled. They are the oldest and largest program of its kind in America and have trained over 1,000 assistance dog teams since 1976 at the approximate cost of $20,000 per dog. NEADS most generously waives this cost in the Canines for Combat Vets program.

Air transportation to and from the training facility in Massachusetts became a huge financial drain on their organization and the veterans who were accessing their services. John Moon, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for NEADS, learned about Air Compassion for Veterans through one of their recipients of an assist dog, veteran Chris Maddeford, who had also received air transportation services from Air Compassion for Veterans (ACV). In May 2009 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by ACV and NEADS.

Twice each year NEADS holds a heartwarming and inspirational graduation ceremony. The graduation celebrates the successful completion of the six-month training cycle. These remarkable dogs become an extension of their owners and bring security, freedom, independence and relief from social isolation.

Last May, Ames M. Peters became the first wounded warrior that ACV flew to NEADS to be matched with his service dog, “Cowboy”. Ames and Cowboy then underwent two weeks of training before we flew them home. ACV will fly them back to NEADS sometime in June for refresher sessions and graduation! Ames served as an E4 Navy Medic and sustained injuries to his back, legs and feet during a humvee incident in Iraq in 2005. Ames has undergone intense physical therapy but he continues to have problems with balance. Cowboy will be assisting him in his day-to-day mobility functions and will assist in retrieving objects for Ames.

NEADS opened its first Prison PUP Partnership in December, 1998 at North Central Correctional Center in Gardner, MA and now has fourteen additional prison programs. Many of the dogs at NEADS are trained by inmates. Cowboy was one of the dogs that received his training in the prison program. It is a special way for an inmate to repay society and is a rewarding accomplishment for the inmate. Ames realized the bond of love that is created between a dog and his human handler so he took Cowboy to visit the inmate who loved and trained him.

ACV has already flown another wounded warrior to NEADS in May to be matched with a canine companion. We are acutely aware of the tremendous benefit service dogs provide many wounded warriors who suffer from combat disabilities. The dogs also provide comfort, companionship and emotional healing.

ACV has now formed a new program called Air Compassion for Canines to help draw attention to this need and to provide free air transportation to qualified injured veterans for canine matching and training.

Kevin was on patrol in Samarra, Iraq, on September 30, 2007, when the explosion hit his Humvee. The blast sent 12 pieces of shrapnel into his skull and took fingers from both hands and flesh from his arms. He has no feeling in his hands except for in his right

To date, he’s undergone 18 surgeries, including bone and skin grafts that have earned him the nickname “Patches.” He faces many more operations and “still has a long way to go,” his mother, Terry Hardin, says.

She says that as a medic, the hardest thing for him is to be dependent on help from others.

Kevin’s father, Charles, has been by his side since day one, giving up his job as a security guard in order to do so.

His mom, Terry, works as a legal secretary for a law firm in Palm Beach County, Florida. She has two other sons at home in Jupiter–Kyle and Keith–and an older son, Kenny, who lives in Massachusetts with his wife and daughter.

Kyle, 16, and Keith, 14, had to withdraw from school due to the family’s recurrent trips to Walter Reed. They are enrolled in a public “virtual” school. It’s a lot for Terry to manage. Therefore, when she found Air Compassion for Veterans (ACV) on the Internet and learned of the free flights available to her family, she felt enormously relieved.

“Without the assistance of Air Compassion for Veterans, it would have been virtually impossible for us to travel to D.C. to be at Kevin’s bedside during this very difficult time,” she said. Jim Smith, ACV executive director, said it is “an honor to serve this heroic family in their time of need.”

Kevin, who received a Purple Heart decoration, remains upbeat. People often ask him if he has any regrets. “What is there to regret, if you’re doing it for your country? I would do it ten times over,” he said.

Steven K. wanted to get home to Mauldin, South Carolina to be with his wife and children following an extensive operation to repair his injured right ankle.

The leading petty officer of a team conducting medical screenings of thousands of sailors deploying and redeploying, Steven was working in Norfolk, Virginia at the Navy Moblization Processing Site.

But the situation was complicated by another medical crisis: his father-in-law had undergone an operation for pancreatic cancer on the same day as Steven’s surgery. Charisma, Steven’s wife, had traveled to Maryland to be with her father at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, as the procedure was considered life-threatening.

With his family out of town, Steven resigned himself to staying in Virginia during his recovery. But then he talked to an official with Fleet and Family Support Center who told him about Air Compassion for Veterans.

The Virginia Beach-based charity, which provides free medical air transportation for veterans and active military service members and their families, arranged a flight home to South Carolina where Steven was met by friends who cared for him in his home until Charisma and the couple’s three children returned from Maryland.

“Air Compassion for Veterans’ gift made an immeasurable impact on my life,” Steven said. “I was able to support my wife in her time of need and she in mine. My family was brought closer together after a nearly two-year separation.”

Army Staff Sgt. Michael Montange, 28, was with his regiment about 15 miles from Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated on August 22, 2007, sending a projectile through his buttock and out the opposite hip.

After flat-lining several times and undergoing 38 surgeries, Montange pulled through, though not without losing nearly half of his intestines. Recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., he will have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.

As Christmas neared, his father, Ron Montange, tried to figure out a way to get his son home to Chelsea, Michigan, for the holidays. It had been 10 years since Michael had seen his hometown. Ron decided to rent a van and drive to Washington and back, then do it all over again after Christmas to return his son to Walter Reed.

Meanwhile, a friend, Frederic Leeman, was looking on the Internet for better options. He discovered Air Compassion for Veterans and put Ron in touch with the organization. Missions director MJ Sablan contacted pilot Chuck Van Nostrand, who agreed to take the mission. Mike Pearson signed up as co-pilot.

Van Nostrand is a co-owner of the Beechcraft Bonanza based in Manassas that has been used to fly patient missions since it was first purchased in 1977. Equipped with a LifePort stretcher system, the aircraft is well-suited for accommodating non-ambulatory patients like Montange who do not need medical assistance while on board.

The flight was delayed for two days because of high winds, but on Christmas Eve, the pilots safely brought Sgt. Montange to Jackson County Airport where he was greeted by a crowd of family members, firefighters, and Army Reserve members. Later he was joined by his wife Amber and two young children who had traveled from Missouri.

In an article appearing in the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Michael’s dad was quoted as saying, “This is very meaningful all the way around. This is the best Christmas present ever.”

Michael flew back to Walter Reed in the Bonanza on January 3. “We were all proud to do it,” Van Nostrand said.

Doctors projected that the soldier’s recovery would take around 14 months, but report that he’s doing much better than expected.

Important Update

Michael’s father spoke with ACV on December 8, 2008 to give an update on his son’s condition. He said Mike is making progress but will be at Walter Reed for another eight to ten months. In September, he underwent surgery to remove his left leg. “They’re engineering an artificial leg for him,” Ron said. He spent four days with his son during Thanksgiving. “We went to see the Washington Wizards play the Atlanta Hawks.” He added that “ever since Mike woke up at Walter Reed [after he was first transported there], he’s had his head on straight. He has a strong will and a determined spirit.”

Alex, whose father Jason is a sergeant in the U.S. Marines recently home from Iraq, had been hospitalized in Lubbock for severe injuries police said were due to abuse. The child’s mother and a man she met through the Internet were arrested and charged with injury to a child. They are being held in a Lemasa, Texas, jail.

Alex’s paternal grandparents traveled to Texas from their home in Melbourne, Florida.

“We went to the hospital in Lubbock and said a prayer over him,” said Bill, the boy’s grandfather, whose wife Sherry was there too. “His body began to tremble. Ever since that time, he’s been getting better.” Bill said the doctors “broke out crying” when they saw the little boy’s increased brain activity on the monitor. “They call it a miracle.”

The couple worked through legal channels to win their son’s custody of Alex even as they tried to find a way to transport the boy to Florida.

“We heard about Mercy Medical Airlift through my mom’s church,” Bill said.

His sister contacted Jim Smith, vice president of operations for Mercy Medical Airlift, which oversees the new air transport service for troops, veterans and their families affected by military deployment in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Bill, Sherry, and Alex flew “high and fast” in a Learjet to Orlando with the trip taking only 2 ½ hours. “It was a very good flight,” said Bill, who used to fly on Air Force planes as part of an air crew.

Jason was granted a temporary 90-day assignment in Florida to be with his son, whose remarkable improvement continued daily at the Arnold Palmer Hospital. On Nov. 30, the boy was discharged and admitted into a rehabilitation program at the University of Florida Brooks Center. His grandmother is staying with him for the two weeks of rehab.

“He’s doing very well,” Bill noted. “He smiles and continues to make progress toward standing and walking. He can count to ten and pull himself up into a sitting position.”

Though Jason has to return to California to handle more legal issues, the family hopes to be together at home for “a big Christmas”. Ashleigh, Alex’s sister, is doing very well also and is now a normal 10-month-old baby girl.”

The first flight of the veterans air transport program will be remembered for a long time by his family and all those touched by the miracle of Alex.

During a tour in Baghdad in 2004, Berberniss’ vehicle ran over a large anti-tank mine. The explosion left him with both legs broken, a shattered rib cage, a broken back and pelvis, and a punctured lung. Doctors told him he would never walk again. But not only can he walk (though he faces the midway amputation of his right leg this year or next), he reenlisted in the Corps as a small arms technician in September 2006. “My goal,” he said, “is to get back to Iraq.”