I was with B Troop, 3/5th CAV, Fort Lewis, and spent a week at Toledo SAR staging area, flying search and rescue missions into the red zone. We began flying late morning on 18 May and spent a week performing missions.
I was sleeping at the Toledo Grange Hall the following Sunday when the second major eruption occurred and with the ash cloud moving east and shutting down the SAR efforts until later in the afternoon.
The stories of the SAR effort are to many to try and put here, but it was an amazing spectacle to witness.
