Veteran Encounters Pilot Who Rescued Him From War on United Flight

A Life Aloft

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Todd Love, a former Marine who was severely injured in Afghanistan in 2010, got an unexpected surprise on Friday when boarding a United Airlines flight to Portland.

While Love settled into his seat on the aircraft, the pilot — United Airlines Captain Marc Vincequere, who had followed Love onto the plane — asked if he’d been in Afghanistan in 2010. Love said he had.

Vincequere said he recognized Love from a mission he flew as a Lt. Col. in the Air Force while deployed to the area during the war. Vincequere had been the pilot on the mission to fly a severely-injured Love out of Afghanistan.

Love said in a post that has since gone viral on Facebook that Vincequere remembered Love. “He recognized me, my injuries and my face.” Vincequere had always wondered whether or not Love had survived.

According to a recent interview in the Worcester Telegram, Vincequere retired from the Air Force after 21 years of service, and has flown commercially for United for more than 13 years.

He shocked me though when he told me he recognized my injuries and my face. He told me he was the USAF pilot that flew me out of Afghanistan. Honestly, I’m still kind of shocked.

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The last time he saw me I was in some crazy medical box getting wheeled onto the plane.

In Camp Bastion, they stabilized me as best they could but because of the extremity if my injuries I needed to be shifted to better medical care ASAP. The US Air Force took me from there to Kabul and then to Bagram. I woke up in Bagram. That was the first time I woke up and I was confident I was headed home. I had no idea the extent of my injuries, the pain was relentless though, but I stayed focused on what mattered most to get through it all. That thing was family and the fact that I was still alive. The flight from Bagram to DC was the most painful time of my life. I feel like living each moment at that point was a choice and I was desperately hanging in as best I could. Finally, I made it back to US soil and it felt great to back home. I was reunited with my family. I was so happy to see them.

I’m speechless about all of it to be honest. It’s a nice reminder for me as well. I really appreciate all the love we have received since. I definitely want to be more active about really meeting the others that helped me get back home. To all of you that serve as doctors, nurses, pilots, or boots on the ground…. I salute you. I know many of you don’t serve in the military, but the love has been received in my life from you all. My soul is full thanks to that, and that is serving in its own way in my opinion.
 
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