We’ve seen similar scenes in hundreds of movies but those are carefully choreographed and worked out to the nth degree. In the video at the bottom of the page, you will see a real life rescue of Canadian troops by a pilot who must have nerves of steel and the soldiers that seem to have complete faith in him. This scene takes place in the ever treacherous mountains in Afghanistan and the troops are as good as dead unless they can get help.
To make it even worse is that they are on a slope and the pilot must angle his craft without destroying his rotor. There is no way you can practice such a maneuver outside of a Hollywood film but the pilot appears to be supremely confidant as he saves the soldiers and flies them back to safety. All were rescued and the only apparent loss was an unidentified piece of equipment that went tumbling down the side of the mountain.
This was nothing short of an incredible display of dexterity and skill on the part of the pilot, not to mention an absolute trust on the part of the waiting troops in the pilot of that craft.
We really don’t hear that much about these sort of amazing missions that probably take place for more often than we realize, or the incredible contributions that are made to the war effort in Afghanistan by not just the Canadian troops, but all the other allied units that are quietly fulfilling roles and performing their duties to little or no fanfare.
Hopefully the war in Afghanistan will draw to a conclusion in the near future, but until then, major props to the pilots and crews of the helicopters that swoop in and literally save the day for our men and women in uniform.
Maybe someday Hollywood will make a movie about the rescue, but it will never surpass the real thing. There are no stuntmen and the stars of the show are just ordinary soldiers. No, strike that. Extraordinary soldiers.
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