By KATHLEEN MASSER Special to the Daily Press
For Lance Corporal Chris Ashworth, Santa Monica was the next-to-the-last stop on an arduous, eight-leg journey.
Since injuring his shoulder in an incident just outside of Baghdad, Ashworth had endured two Humvee excursions to medical centers in Iraq, a Blackhawk helicopter flight to Kuwait, a bus to the airport, a C-137 transport to Germany, a commercial 747 to Los Angeles and a military van to Camp Pendleton, where his company is based.
However, Ashworth wanted to spend his 30-day convalescent leave with his family in Red Bluff. From Oceanside, a one-way train ticket is $163 — an enormous sum for an enlisted man to shell out for the 12-hour trip.
But a savvy nurse at Camp Pendleton Hospital had a better idea.
On Thursday, Karen Guenther picked up the phone and called an angel. By Friday morning, Ashworth was seated in the cockpit of Jim Mallen’s Beech Bonanza airplane.
Before noon, they would touch down in Santa Monica to meet Lodi vintner Fred Weibel, who would fly Ashworth the rest of the way to Red Bluff. Mallen and Weibel are volunteer pilots and members of Angel Flight West.
From its offices at the Santa Monica Airport, Angel Flight usually arranges free transportation in private aircraft for patients who can’t afford to travel to medical centers for diagnosis or treatment.
Military assistance missions, however, are new to Angel Flight, though in the days immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the only small aircraft allowed in the skies were piloted by Angel Flight volunteers, who delivered blood to labs around the country for testing.
“We have more than 1,200 volunteer pilots and the generosity and compassion of each one are just remarkable,” said Jim Weaver, Angel Flight’s executive director.
Last year, Angel Flight volunteers flew 2,640 missions throughout the 11 Western states. Pilots donate their time, their planes and all other flight costs so that, for passengers, it really is a free ride.
He hitched a ride to Salt Lake City with AFW pilot Robert Harter of Pacific Palisades, who reunited the injured soldier with his wife and three children. Anderson was wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade during an ambush. Harter said that when they landed, “All we could see were balloons, banners and bagpipers. It was quite a welcome home.”
And it looks like Angel Flight’s military assistance may go on for a while.
According to AFW Mission Coordination Director Cheri Cimmarrusti, “At least 25 more soldiers are expected in over the weekend, and we already have flight requests from six of them.”
“And when the time comes, we'll bring them back to Camp Pendleton,” Cimmarrusti said.
Not all flights feature balloons and bagpipes, however.
On March 23, Donald John Cline Jr., was listed as missing in action. Three weeks later, his family learned that the 21-year-old lance corporal was killed at Nasiriyiha.
Cline’s wife and two children live in Reno, while his mother and father live in Sierra Madre. The Marines arranged to ship Cline’s remains to Reno, but not for his parents to be there at the end of their son’s journey.
Angel Flight pilot Don Ratcliff learned of their story through Angel Flight West, but couldn’t make the trip himself.
Instead, he booked the parents on a commercial flight and paid for the tickets out of his own pocket. And when the young soldier has been laid to rest, Ratcliff will be there in person to fly the Clines back to Sierra Madre.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 23, 2003. Read the original PDF.