Keesler Airmen caught in pileup provide aid, comfort to victims Published Jan. 23, 2008 By Tech. Sgt. Chuck Marsh 81st Training Wing Public Affairs office KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS -- Dec. 22, 20 Airmen on their way to the airport after completing in-lieu-of training at Ft. Riley, Kan., were involved in a 32-car pileup in a blizzard on Interstate 70. Three of them, Staff Sgts. James Ebbs and Marc Gayden, and Senior Airman Tobiah Walter, are members of Keesler's 338th Training Squadron. Marshanna Hester of TV-49, the ABC affiliate in Topeka, Kan., wrote, "The winter blast made it difficult for paramedics to arrive, but in the middle of the madness came a sense of order, thanks to the charter bus full of transition team Airmen from Ft. Riley." No Airmen were injured; however, there were multiple injuries among other victims of the accident, ranging from lacerations, bruises and abrasions to a broken leg. A soldier assigned to Ft. Riley was killed. "I woke up from a nap in time to hear someone on the bus yell, 'Why isn't he stopping?,'" said Sergeant Ebbs. Moments later, the Airmen's charter bus slammed into the rear of a Chevy Impala, sandwiching it between their bus and a tractor trailer. "Another car came to a halt after hitting (the growing pile of vehicles) and the driver got out -- foolishly thinking the crash was over. He was knocked down by either a semi or a car the semi hit," said Sergeant Ebbs. "After the last car hit, we got out of the bus to begin helping people get out of their vehicles," he said. "Medics from our bus began helping the man that was run over." Sergeants Ebbs and Gayden moved a truck driver with a nasty head injury over and under several wrecked vehicles and onto the median where paramedics were able to treat him. One of the medics on the bus was Maj. Randle McBay, a nurse from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "We went out and started triage around all the vehicles and getting people out," the major said. "All those that could get out and were walking, we put on the bus to keep them warm." "A staff sergeant called me and explained that the Airmen, most of whom have considerable medical training, were assisting the injured, administering first aid and had brought many into the bus for warmth and field care,'" said Maj. Jason Nahrgang, Detachment 3, 602nd Training Group (provisional) commander at Ft. Riley. "This accident was a vivid reminder how badly things can go wrong in a very short period of time," said Major Nahrgang. "I don't think anyone on the bus imagined they would put their newly-acquired combat skills training to use before they even departed the continental U.S. The actions of these citizen-Airmen demonstrate the outstanding capability and professionalism so readily evident in today's Air Force."