Too Often Forgotten

The heroes in our midst keep going about their work, training and preparing, always at the ready when the phone rings

The news was fresh on the internet and the smoke was still hanging ominously in the air. A firebombing aircraft fighting a bush inferno had crashed and its pilot had perished. Rescue helicopters attempting to reach the site had been repelled by the smoke and hot gusty winds, and all the while the fire raged on. Once again, life had been lost in the service of others. Once again, and not for the last time.

I recalled a Christmas Eve a few years past when a paramedic died attempting to rescue another as he was winched below the beating blades of a helicopter towards the rugged rock face. And a medevac flight some years ago that crashed and killed all on board. They are now headlines that have long faded, but the memories are still clear. Each one was a tragedy that left families and friends forever changed. It is an aspect of aviation that operates almost by stealth. Aside from the occasional news bulletin showing a stranded sailor being winched on board a helicopter as it hovers above the waves, little is there to be seen. And the heroes remain anonymous. Like an iceberg, the greatest mass of their effort floats silently beneath the surface.