A Marine who spent three hours inside a helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan to save the wounded and recover the fallen will is receive ing the service's Marine Corps’ highest non-combat decoration for heroism.
On Thursday, Gunnery Sgt. Geann Pereira will be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal on Thursday for his actions following responding to the Oct. 11 crash, which killed two airmen: Maj. Phyllis J. Pelky, 45, and Master Sgt. Gregory T. Kuhse, 38.
Two British troops and a French contractor were also killed when the British Puma Mk 2 helicopter they were riding in went down at Camp Resolute Support in Kabul.
At the time, Pereira was working at the camp to keep track of weapons and other gear the U.S. was providing to Afghan troops and police. After he heard the crash, he ran outside and saw the helicopter on its side.
He and a Danish soldier reached the downed helo at the same time, he said, and they immediately jumped inside, he said. The scene was gruesome. The people inside the helicopter were tangled in seatbelts, wreckage and debris.
The first person he pulled from the aircraft was dead. Using a bolt cutter, he freed two others, but they were unresponsive.
After the first five to 10 minutes inside the helicopter, Pereira realized that the helicopter was leaking a lot of fuel and some of the wreckage was smoldering.
"There [were] some sparks around — I can't really say it was fire, but there were definitely sparks and a lot of smoke," Pereira said. "Staying in there, it was just hard to breathe with all the jet fuel and smoke all around you."
Even though he was concerned the helicopter could explode at any moment, Pereira stayed inside for hours because he could hear one person who was still alive.
"I could hear him yelling for help, saying it was hard to breathe in there," Pereira said. "I just kind of stayed there with him."
Maj. Phyllis J. Pelky, 45; and Master Sgt. Gregory T. Kuhse, 38, were killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of Train Advise Assist Command – Air Force
The man, a The coalition service member, was on top of other crash victims, people in the helicopter, so Pereira and his fellow rescuers knew they had to get to him before they could reach the others get the others out. They spent more than two hours cutting away at the debris before the man was finally freed.
"He made it," Pereira said. "He's recovered."
Five coalition personnel survived the crash. One of Pereira's most enduring memories of that day is how U.S. and coalition troops came together to save as many people as possible.
"I remember working closely with all of them," he said. "They all performed phenomenally."
Pereira, who was born in Brazil, currently serves as the administrative chief for Marine Corps Embassy Security Group Region 9, which includes Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. He has mixed feelings about being awarded for his actions in Afghanistan.
"Obviously, nobody wants to be recognized for being involved in a tragedy, where so many great people lost their lives," he said. "I simply did what any other service member, any other Marine, any other soldier, airman or sailor would have done — or any other member of the coalition forces."
Brig. Gen. Kevin M. Iiams, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South, will present the award to Pereira at 1 p.m. Thursday at city hall in Oakland Park, Florida.
