Editor,
On March 23 in Afghanistan, Air Force 1 Lt. Tamara Long Archuleta died in a helicopter crash along with five airmen. She was an HH-60 PaveHawk pilot stationed at Moody AFB, GA, deployed to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Tamara was a UNM and AFROTC '99 grad.
Her mission on March 23 was to pick up two injured Afghani children. The cause of the helicopter crash is unknown.
I attended initial helicopter training with Tamara in Ft. Rucker, Ala., and spent nearly every day training side-by-side with her. It saddens my heart that she is gone. My only consolation is that Tamara died doing something she believed in, defending freedom and performing search and rescue missions.
The Air Force rescue community's motto is "That Others May Live." She embodied that saying. Please pray for Tamara, her parents and her son.
Lt. Tobias Switzer
Kirtland Air Force Base
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