AAA Ambulance Servicemen Give New Meaning To Cause For Celebrating Independence Day
Independence Day celebrations take on new meaning when people who fight for freedom are “up close and personal.”
That’s the situation for AAA Ambulance Service colleagues and customers who can celebrate the Fourth of July with special appreciation to Hattiesburg-based Emergency Medical Technician Lane Evans and Pilot Parish Clinton. Both are Mississippi Air National Guardsmen.
In “real life,” Evans works as a dispatcher for AAA Ambulance Service. Clinton pilots Rescue 7, the Agusta A119 Koala single engine turbine helicopter that flies for Southeast Mississippi Air Ambulance District (SEMAAD) — the longest continuous running helicopter rescue operation in the United States. Under operational management of AAA Ambulance Service, SEMAAD’s the only community, tax-supported air ambulance district in the nation. The A119 came custom-equipped to accommodate two fore-aft litters with full body access.
Evans’ unit – the 183rd Air Evacuation Squadron that’s part of the 172nd Airlift Wing in Jackson, was activated in April 2003. He came home in January 2004 and will celebrate the Fourth of July while on his annual two-week drills duty.
Clinton went “active duty” status in January 2004 from his chief pilot position with
Rescue 7, was deployed overseas in March, and expects to remain active for about 18 months.
AAA Ambulance Service CEO Wade N. Spruill, Jr., expressed special thanks to the two young men and their families for the “special sacrifices they and tens of thousands more Americans are making for our ongoing freedom.
“My own father is a war hero, a decorated veteran among ‘The Greatest Generation,’” Spruill said. “I know from a very personal perspective the demands of the call to duty. We thank the many who answer our nation’s call to serve, we celebrate their work on our behalf, and we pray for their safe homecoming from freed countries to The Free Nation.”
Technical Sergeant Evans, an eight-year EMT with a B.S. degree in exercise science who’s in pre-med studies, has been a National Guardsman seven years. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Janet Sessums, he completed 148 air evacuations and served as NCOIC training officer for his air medical crew. He is Air Crew-qualified for C-141, C-17, C-9, C-21, C-130, and KC-135 duty.
Evans’ unit, from the Mississippi Air National Guard website, “has a primary strategic airlift mission and secondary aerial evacuation mission with their two flying squadrons, the 183rd Airlift Squadron and 183rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. The C-17 Globemaster III is flown by each unit to accomplish these missions. The Wing is complemented by support units including maintenance, logistics, personnel, finance, medical, communications, security police, and civil engineering.”
Evans and his wife Tammy are parents of two children, a four-year-old son named Lane, II, and a daughter, one-year-old Kaylee.
Clinton’s also married to a woman named Tammy and is father to four children, daughters Lynsey and Santana and sons Zachary and Derrick. The 36-year-old Guardsman’s parents, Toxie and Hilda Clinton, live in Sumrall.
Chief Warrant Officer Clinton serves with Company G, 185 Aviation, Meridian, whose mission is to move troops and cargo, conduct heavy lift for combat equipment, and recover damaged aircraft, according to www.ngms.state.ms.us/publicaffairs/mobilizedunits/index.htm. This is the second deployment for the unit; the first deployment involved individual mobilizations. With military pilot training and having been a commercial pilot, Clinton now flies Chinook (Boeing CH-47) helicopters in Iraq.
“With gratitude and as we anticipate a more peaceful world,” Spruill said, “we celebrate the work of our military and civilian public servants at every level. AAA Ambulance Service proudly salutes, especially, Lane Evans, Parish Clinton, and others in our fight against terrorism. With that in mind, we truly can celebrate Independence Day, the birthday of the United States of America, founded July 4th 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This year we freely celebrate the USA’s 228th birthday.”
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About AAA Ambulance Service: AAA Ambulance Service, founded in 1965, created one of the first licensed emergency medical services providers in Mississippi. The community, tax-supported nonprofit organization’s mission is to save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce trauma-related personal anguish and health care costs. For more information, visit http://www.aaaambulance.net.
Contact: Christy M. Joy
PO Box 17889
Hattiesburg, MS 39404
207 South. 28th Ave.
Hattiesburg, MS 39401
(601) 264-0175 SND.Email
