Misawa maintainer volunteers his time at deployed hospital

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachel Martinez
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  For deployed Airmen, there are a number of activities to fill any free time they may have. Some sign up for online classes, some hit the gym, and others relax by playing poker or watching movies. One Misawa maintainer decided he wanted to do something more meaningful with his free time and get more involved with the war effort. 

Less than a month after arriving at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Tech. Sgt. Christopher Mendonca headed to the base hospital and started volunteering his time to help injured warriors returning from the battlefield. 

"I just wanted to help our fallen comrades," said Sergeant Mendonca, a native of Queens, New York. "All it took was one trip to the helo-pad and I was hooked." 

Sergeant Mendonca was deployed as the electronic warfare systems NCO in charge. This included supervising eight Airmen in the maintenance of electronic countermeasure pods and test stations. Despite his demanding job, he volunteered nearly 300 hours at the hospital during his five months at Balad. He spent most of the time unloading injured coalition forces, Iraqi civilians and insurgents from the helicopters that brought them from the battlefield. When he wasn't out on the helo-pad, Sergeant Mendonca helped where he could in the emergency room, intensive care unit and the combined aero-medical staging facility. 

"I was able to do my job in EWS, but my thoughts were always on the hospital," he said. "When a helicopter was overhead, no matter where I was, I wished I could be at the pad. Many people I volunteered with felt the same way. If we weren't actually doing the job, getting injured off helicopters or ambulances, we were helping out around the hospital scooping up supplies, sweeping up the pad area, cleaning bloody litters, or refilling the water in the fridge for the aircrew. There was always something to do." 

While volunteering at the hospital was time well-spent, Sergeant Mendonca said it was not always easy. On Dec. 29, he helped unload an Army private second class with a head trauma. 

"At the time of his arrival, we watched the helicopter come in, knowing that the injury was a head trauma," he explained. "Considering the phenomenal survival rate that Joint Base Balad's hospital boasts, I had no doubt the soldier would be revived."

A half hour later, Sergeant Mendonca inquired about the Soldier's condition and discovered he had died.

"That is when a flood of thoughts came into my mind - his family had no idea their loved one was gone ... who was going to break that news to them?" Sergeant Mendonca said.

"I couldn't believe a person I had never met before could affect me," he continued. "I wasn't the only one at the pad that day who had to find a corner to themselves. Just after the fallen warrior ceremony, many of us had to find a moment to be alone and swallow what had just transpired. I prayed that day for the private second class and his family."

Witnessing the fragility of life left a lasting impression, said Sergeant Mendonca.

"Not only has volunteering changed my outlook on deployments, but it has changed my outlook on life," he said. "There are soldiers I met that are now double amputees but were still in good spirits. Nothing sickens me more these days than people complaining about the smallest thing - Airman 'so-and-so' [whining] about the food at the chowhall. Guys like that need to go to the ICU and see the 20-year-old soldier who just lost both of his feet."

Since returning to Misawa on March 1, Sergeant Mendonca has enjoyed snowboarding with his coworkers and is looking forward to visiting his family in Queens next month. Although he has returned to everyday life, he said he will never forget the importance of volunteering with the hospital.

"I highly encourage anyone that wants to help to get to the hospital and do what he/she can," he said. "Give blood, platelets ... anything."