M27

Hero Flight Mission #27
September 8th, 2012
Passengers:  US Army Paratrooper SPC Christopher White, his wife Stephanie and daughter Ava.  US Army EOD SSG Thomas Janusz and his wife Sharron.
Purpose: Attending the2012, 9-11 Memorial Events at Ground Zero
Route:  KSAT to KLGA
Crew:  Howard Turek, Mike Weimert and Kristi Turek
Purpose:
As we began our decent into the LaGuardia airport area, New York Approach asked us the significance of our call sign “Hero Flight”.  We explained that we had two of our Country’s wounded warriors on board to attend the 9-11 ceremonies this coming week.  With that ATC said, “We love to hear these things, thank them from us for their service and we thank you for what you are doing, now descend to two-thousand, eight hundred feet and turn left to 030, we want to take you up the Hudson so they can see the Statue of Liberty, it will be on your left.”  It was an incredible sight.
Thomas Janusz served in Afghanistan with his friend, Captain Patrick Dowdell.  Captain Dowdell’s father was Lieutenant Kevin Dowdell, a member of Rescue 4-Queens of the New York Fire Department, 46 years old.  On 9-11 Lieutenant Dowdell did not come home, he was listed among the missing, believed to be lost on the 10th floor of the South Tower, which was hit second but the first to fall.  He was last seen alive lining up his men outside the South Tower before entering the building.
Lieutenant Kevin Dowdell had two sons, Patrick and James.  Patrick was 18 years old at the time of 9-11.  He volunteered at Ground Zero in the days that followed.  He went on to apply to West Point and was admitted the following year, graduating in 2006. Now after serving our Country, with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Captain Dowdell recently retired from the military and became a fire fighter for the city of New York.
Captain Patrick Dowdell will play the bag pipes at this year’s commemorative ceremony at Ground Zero in the memory of his dad and everyone who has paid the ultimate price as a result of 9-11.  Thomas Janusz and Captain Dowdell are close friends.  While on duty in Afghanistan, on April 5, 2012, Thomas, an EOD expert responded to the call of an IED found in the Pusht-e-rod district of Afghanistan and unfortunately while performing his duties the IED detonated in his hand.  As a result he lost his hand and a leg, plus his hearing from the explosion.
Christopher White was on his first deployment to Iraq when a suicide bomber ran over him in an attempt to blow up their vehicle.  The bomber failed in their attempt but Chris’s leg was broken in 3 places.  He has had 4 surgeries in an attempt to replace the three inches of bone that was removed, the latest being August 14, 2012.
Chris and Thomas wanted to be with their friend Patrick and attend the ceremony this year to support Patrick.