KING SPENDS
THANKSGIVING WITH WOUNDED U.S. SOLDIERS
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -
U.S. Congressman Steve King (IA-05) arrived in Germany
Thanksgiving day to visit with Airmen, Soldiers, Marines and
Sailors at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) and
the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility (CASF).
Troops at LRMC sat down to eat
Thanksgiving dinner with King. Many of those who joined him
will soon fly back to the United States for further medical
care.
LRMC serves as the primary
treatment center for injured servicemembers from Operations
Enduring and Iraqi Freedom returning to the United States.
After meeting with troops at
LRMC, King, a member of the Air Force caucus, traveled to
Ramstein Air Base where he visited with wounded
servicemembers and Air Force medical staff at the CASF.
"I am here with our troops on
Thanksgiving because they have fought for America's freedom
and the fight against terror. At the hospital I visited
wounded servicemembers. They are injured but their spirit is
not broken," said King. "On Thanksgiving, and always, we
must show them how much we appreciate their sacrifice, and
the sacrifice of their families. For they are the reason
America continues to be the light and beacon of liberty
throughout the world."
The largest and busiest
facility of its kind, the CASF at Ramstein Air Base is one
of the stops an injured or sick warfighter makes on their
way to medical facilities in the United States. While many
of the more critically injured are taken to nearby LRMC, the
CASF is used as a staging area for those patients that are
medically stable and ready to make the flight to the United
States.
King visited with
servicemembers and wished staff and patients a happy
Thanksgiving. The stop is part of a review of the Middle
East King is taking at a time when Democrats are calling for
a "change of course" in Iraq.
