I was honored to have been given this challenge coin today! It is given in honor of USMC Captain Jennifer J Harris -RIP Captain Harris-Below is her story. When a Marine lay wounded on a battlefield in Iraq, Captain Jennifer J. Harris flew her Sea Knight helicopter into the night sky. Her final mission came in daylight. She volunteered to transport blood supplies, but insurgents shot down her chopper, killing Harris just days before she was to return home to Swampscott. At first she was told No. Youre too close to leaving, said Jim Schultz, a friend who is also the Swampscott veterans agent. But she said, I want to fly one more time in Iraq in the daylight. A lot of her missions had been at night. So, [her superiors] reluctantly agreed. Harris died on Feb. 7, along with six other crew members. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, Harris was the first Massachusetts woman killed in the Iraq war and has been the lone female casualty of the elite helicopter squadron, the Purple Foxes. On flying missions, she used the radio moniker The Dove. Harris, who would have turned 29 on Nov. 6, was on her third tour of duty in Iraq.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 14:49:55 +0000
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