Chance Encounter

  • Published
  • By Maj. Sheila Gamoneda
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group
Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan --  No parent ever wants to be preceded in death by their child.  In some ways that thought and relationship is also shared between teachers and students. Meet Major Sheila Gamoneda.  Sheila Gamoneda is a member of the United States Air Force Reserves. She is also a parent, grandparent and the assistant principal at Belleview High School in Florida.

The night of October 14, 2010 seemed like a typical night. Major Gamoneda and the members of her Aeromedical Flight Crew would busy themselves performing functional checks on their medical equipment or entertaining themselves playing card games while waiting on-call to transport the sick and wounded. As of Oct.14th she and her crew had already transported over 100 critically wounded and sick patients to various theaters between Afghanistan and Germany.

But this night would be different. Major Gamoneda is a trained RN and a military flight nurse. Yet no amount of training could prepare her for the information she would receive next.

"I received an email from the administration at Belleview High School stating that a former student (Domonic Georgetti) had been wounded in Afghanistan. Upon finding this out, I requested that a member of our Air Evac Operations Team research his whereabouts and see if we could get an exact location. Without knowing the extent
and cause of the injuries, my heart sank. Tears began to form in my eyes. I had seen many injuries prior to hearing about Domonic and I feared the worst. After a bit of searching we found that he would be coming early in the morning at my location, Bagram Air Field. He would be arriving in an aircraft along with other wounded soldiers. I
donned my uniform and met the aircraft early that morning. To my relief, his injuries were not as extensive as I had thought. I spoke briefly with Domonic at that time
and he was as shocked to see me as I was him.

"Miss Gamoneda, what are you doing here?" was all he could muster. I smiled briefly. A calm seemed to come over me because Domonic was ok. Hospital personnel were preparing to do the transport, so I told Domonic that my Aeromedical Crew and I would come to visit with him later in the day. Later in the afternoon, I met with the members
of my crew and we all walked to the hospital to visit.

Domonic was happy to see us, although some of that may have been because of the pain medication he was administered. He was calm, yet festive and he smiled a lot. He was happy that we came to visit. He could not believe the level of rank of many of my crew. I can only guess that made him feel proud, as he had barely been in the
service a year. We didn't stay long. He needed his rest for the long flight the next morning. I took a picture with him and we started to say our goodbyes. I told him I would return later in the evening and visit with him prior to his leaving. I returned in the evening and we talked extensively about school, the past and his current tenure with
the U.S. Marines. It was getting late and I told him I would return in the morning to see him off to Germany. We talked until he finally fell asleep. The next morning I met with Domonic and escorted him to the plane. We said our goodbyes. I told him when I returned home, I would visit with him and his family.

Sheila Gamoneda, Major, U.S. Air Force Reserves