FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NR #AS-04013

MIDLAND, Texas (September 20, 2004) – Major Karen Downes, a senior flight nurse with the 714 th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, will be honored as the Commemorative Air Force's 2004 Dolly Vinsant Flight Nurse of the Year award winner. CAF Col Bob Thompson, CAF Chief of Staff, will present Downes with this prestigious award at the CAF's General Membership Meeting 3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 1, 2004, in the CAF Hangar in Midland , Texas .

The award, presented each year by the CAF, pays tribute to Lieutenant Wilma (Dolly) Roland Vinsant, a flight nurse who was killed in action over Germany during an aeromedical evacuation on Aug. 14, 1945. One of only three flight nurses known to have lost their lives in World War II, Vinsant is the only woman buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery in Margraten, Holland . She is also the only Texas woman killed as a direct result of enemy action in the European Theater of Operations.

Nominated by Major Peter J. Leporati, chief nurse at the 714 th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Downes, was selected as the military's flight nurse who most nearly embodies the characteristics exhibited by Vinsant during her lifetime. "I strongly endorse the nomination of Major Karen M. Downes for the Commemorative Air Force Dolly Vinsant Flight Nurse Award 2004," Leporati wrote in his nomination. "Major Downes' expert clinical knowledge and leadership displayed during her deployments were clearly instrumental in the many successful aeromedical evacuations during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Major Downes epitomizes the balance between science of nursing and the art of nursing for all others to emulate."

Downes volunteered for over 180 days from Feb. 17, 2003, to July 30, 2003, in support of OPERATION ENDURING/IRAQI FREEDOM at Doha , Qatar . As medical crew director she led her crew through more than 20 dangerous combat missions accruing over 120 flying hours and providing expert nursing care to over 200 casualties with no in-flight patient deaths, nor any serious medical declines in her patient's conditions. Downs successfully executed the full array of flight nurse duties, from high-tech expert nursing care, teaching and mentoring her crew, to always remembering the special touches that can be the most memorable to patients.

Downes will be a special guest both days at the Fina-CAF AIRSHO 2004.

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