Inspiring story of a humanitarian military mission

Frustrated with immigration posturing and tired of the mudslinging in Iowa, all the while trying to avoid thinking about Iran's nuclear intentions, I was in the mood for a nice Christmas story that would warm the heart -- a story about giving, sacrifice and good will toward our fellow man.

I got all that and more thanks to the U.S. Navy, which -- it turns out -- will make house calls, or rather boat calls, when responding to an emergency at sea.

Just ask 14-year-old Laura Montero of Albion, Ill., who was in excruciating pain after her appendix burst last week while she and her mother were on a cruise ship to Mexico. The captain of the Dawn Princess had put out a distress call while the ship was about 250 miles out from the Mexican port of Cabo San Lucas. Luckily, the USS Ronald Reagan happened to be in the nautical neighborhood because it was conducting a training exercise about 500 miles away, in preparation for deployment to the Persian Gulf. The aircraft carrier picked up the distress signal and headed toward the Dawn Princess. It took the warship all night to get within 175 miles of the vessel, and at that point a helicopter lifted off from the Reagan and flew another 45 minutes to reach the Dawn Princess with search-and-rescue sailors and a medic in tow.

But the copter crew realized there wasn't enough room to land on the cruise ship, and so they had to lower one of the sailors onto the deck in a basket. Montero was loaded on and then lifted into the helicopter, where the medic tended to her. Then she was flown back to the Reagan for emergency surgery. The surgeon aboard the Reagan did first-rate work, according to civilian doctors who later examined Montero. And only two hours after landing on the carrier, the teenager was out of surgery and recovering nicely; sailors treated her like a celebrity, showering her with souvenirs: T-shirts, teddy bears and a USS Ronald Reagan cap.

Meanwhile, the aircraft carrier headed toward San Diego. After the ship docked Tuesday morning at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, Calif., Montero was loaded onto an ambulance, which sped her to a local children's hospital to continue her recovery.

It's a remarkable and inspiring story. It's not every day that an aircraft carrier with 6,000 sailors aboard comes to the rescue of a teenage girl whose life would have been in jeopardy if her ruptured appendix had been left untreated for another day or two.

Once in the hospital, Montero was effusive in her thanks to the captains and crews of both ships for all they did. We should all be. It was a job well done, and a nice reminder of the kind of humanitarian work that the U.S. military does on a regular basis around the world. When these stories unfold abroad, the receipts of Uncle Sam's generosity are usually citizens of foreign countries. This time around, it's even more special that the person rescued was one of our own -- a teenager from a small town who was probably terrified through the whole ordeal but who was in good hands.

And so, for those who lent a hand -- and especially to the captain and crew of the USS Ronald Reagan, who reminded us all what the U.S. military is about -- thanks for the Christmas present.

It was just what the doctor ordered.

© 2007, Washington Post Writers Group