Angel Flight

Special Section: Combined Federal Campaign 2009

Angel Flight for Veterans Relieves Crisis for Sailor

By Suzanne Rhodes
Director of Public Affairs, Angel Flight for Veteran

It was the perfect storm in a Sailor’s life.

Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Katz wanted to get home to Mauldin, S.C., to be with his wife and children following an extensive operation to repair his injured right ankle.

The leading petty officer of a team conducting medical screenings of thousands of Sailors deploying and redeploying, Katz was working in Norfolk at the Navy Mobilization Processing Site.

But the situation was complicated by another medical crisis – his father-in-law had undergone an operation for pancreatic cancer on the same day as Katz’s surgery. Charisma, his wife, had traveled to Maryland to be with her father at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, as the procedure was considered life-threatening.

With his family out of town, Katz resigned himself to staying in Virginia during his recovery.

But then he talked to an official with Fleet and Family Support Center who told him about Angel Flight for Veterans (www.AngelFlightforVeterans.org).

The Virginia Beach-based charity, which provides free medical air transportation for veterans and active military service members and their families, arranged a flight home to South Carolina where Katz was met by friends who cared for him in his home until Charisma and the couple’s three children returned from Maryland.

Katz said Angel Flight for Veterans “made an immeasurable impact on my life. I was able to support my wife in her time of need and she in mine. My family was brought closer together after a nearly two-year separation.”

To support Angel Flight for Veterans, designate CFC #11451.