JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — The Air Force flew over 40 health facilities in the Puget Sound region to salute those at the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, May 8.
The flyover began around 12:30 p.m. when two C-17 Globemater III's take off from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
"This is to say thank you to all of the American heroes at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19," the 62nd Airlift Wing posted on Facebook.
"It's fantastic," said Alissa Michaud, a registered nurse at Puyallup's MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital.
"Seeing the patients this way, it's not fun," said Michaud. She said the flyover gave her and co-workers something to smile about together.
"My whole family is military so it's really nice to have that appreciation because we're always showing appreciation for them," said Michaud.
The flights were part of a regularly scheduled training mission, but operations commander Col. Bobby Lankford said the airmen knew it was a special exercise.
"They're on the front lines," said Lankford, "They did it with courage and honor and that the great characteristics we value."
Major Sarah Ayers, an Air Force flight surgeon, said she considers civilian doctors and nurses on the front lines of a different kind of war.
"A lot of my civilian counterparts didn't really sign up for that," said Ayers, "They wake up every morning knowing what the risk is they're taking."
The flight path was as follows:
