Airmen from the 86th Medical Group delivered baby in cargo bay of U.S. Air Force C-17

[Donkees]

Medical support personnel from the 86th Medical Group help an Afghan mother and family off a U.S. Air Force C-17, call sign Reach 828, moments after she delivered a child aboard the aircraft upon landing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Aug. 21. (cont..)



During a flight from an Intermediate Staging Base in the Middle East, the mother went into labor and began having complications. The aircraft commander decided to descend in altitude to increase air pressure in the aircraft, which helped stabilize and save the mother’s life.

Upon landing, Airmen from the 86th MDG came aboard and delivered the child in the cargo bay of the aircraft. The baby girl and mother were transported to a nearby medical facility and are in good condition.



@AirMobilityCmd

[Wingus Dingus]

1. Good job, AF crew!

[usaf-vet]

23. Great job. Proud to have been a USAF Medic.

[Ilsa]

2. Beautiful story. "Sweetie, you were born during the airlift to save

you from enslavement by the Taliban."

[Texaswitchy]

3. Sweet

The little girl is the future.

As a future.

[Lovie777]

4. A positive story . . .

Good work 86th MDG!

[Texaswitchy]

5. My housemate is ex military retired.

Started as a Medic and then to college to become a nurse.

She is very proud of the men and women doing their duty.

A friend of mine has a granddaughter over there helping.

This is America not hate filled crap that the Republicans throw around.

[calimary]

10. Such a good point, Texaswitchy!

“This is America not hate filled crap that the Republicans throw around.“

[mnhtnbb]

6. Does the baby get to become an American citizen? Born in the cargo bay of USAF C-17?

Or German citizen? How does this work?

[Texaswitchy]

7. Good question.

She is safe now.

[Tanuki]

9. I don't know if the laws are still the same, but my sister was born in Germany

while my dad was stationed there with the U S. Army and she had German nationality from birth, in addition to Anerican citizenship through both parents' nationality. I don't know if being born on a U.S. military base confers U.S. citizenship on this little baby...good question! In any event, I am glad the family made it this far safely and wish them all the best. What a story she will have in years to come!

[LittleGirl]

17. They don't have birthplace citizenship anymore in Germany

When you’re 14 , I think, you apply for citizenship even born in Germany to foreign nationals. So Americans born on base, American by birth if both parents are American. If born in Germany to say Turkish parents, the child has to go through the process just like the parents do. Language tests etc.

[sdfernando]

26. There is no jus soli in Germany.

Most countries do not confer birthright citizenship to people born on their soil.

Both me and my brother were born in Munich while my dad was stationed at Dachau. Both parents U.S. citizens. There was a slight quirk in our situation though. Although we were born in the army hospital, at the time the hospital was in the city Munich proper...it was not on a U.S. Army base. I've even been to the building which is now a German government patent office. As a result I am a naturalized U.S. citizen.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

33. Does the circumstance of your birth prohibit you from becoming our president?

That would suck, if you had such ambitions.

[A HERETIC I AM]

38. Not any more than it would have prevented John McCain

My next older brother was born in Taiwan, so his situation is similar.

He does have a US Naturalization document, though.

He lost his birth certificate during the course of a few moves in the last decade, and getting it replaced was a major pain in the ass, but he finally got it done.

[sdfernando]

47. Funny you should ask that.

I do have naturalization papers with my naturalization date as the actual day of my birth. I also have registration of birth documents from the German government.

My father went to get the naturalization papers from the U. S. Embassy. When he got home, he gave them to my mom and said your children are US Citizens but can never be President. I’m sure mom was deeply disappointed.

I believe the laws or interpretations of the law has changed (i.e. John McCain), but at the time I couldn’t.

[Donkees]

13. Seems it's neither.

[mwooldri]

16. Correct.

German citizenship is by descent. American is by descent or by being born on US soil. That baby has citizenship of the parents. Though IMO that baby should have US citizenship.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

8. Great job by the pilots and aircrew

and it is good to read that mother and child are doing well.

[TNNurse]

11. Was the child not born on US soil,

a military base????

[Donkees]

12. Ramstein Air Base not considered US soil

[Texaswitchy]

14. Hope she can get duel citizenship.

She born on a Air Force plane on a American military base.

[James48]

28. It doesn't work that way.

She was born as the nationality as her parents. I presume that is Afghan.

[Texaswitchy]

29. Maybe due to situation rules might bent.

They will not be going home again.


Surely they get citizenship at some point.

[Hekate]

39. I doubt it. We have a long, long history of refugees coming here...

… and citizenship is something people jump through hoops for. As it is, we have the DREAMERS to deal with — people who came as children and infants with undocumented parents, and that will surely muddy the waters in some people’s minds. Afghan adults will, however, be documented to the max.

[Texaswitchy]

40. At least they out of the country and safe.

Green cards if they do not have them.

The little girl has a future.

[Hekate]

41. Absolutely! I am so happy for her and her family.

[Texaswitchy]

42. They won the lottery.

Just imagine the fear they were living under.

[LittleGirl]

18. There's a fine line there...about American soil. Nt

[Hekate]

37. IF your parents are American citizens, you can be born anywhere and be American. ...

US military bases are “US territory” for legal purposes (our laws versus local laws, local polizei please state your business and we’ll think about whether you get in) and for control purposes (no random locals wandering in — and that goes for bases inside the US as well). Getting born on a base overseas or on an airplane or boat in transit is not like hitting home base — your mother actually has to be in a US state.

[wnylib]

15. And the beat goes on.

This baby and her mother are now part a long experience of refugees coming to America.

There have been babies born on ships headed to America since the time of the Puritans. Refugees fleeing persecution or poverty and starvation. Mother Nature has her own timing regardless of our plans and situations.

In the late 1800s my great grandmother almost became part of that experience. She was 8 months pregnant when she, her husband, and their 3 children (ages 1, 3, and 5) fled Germany as political refugees. My grandfather was considerate enough to wait until they had been in the US for 2 weeks before making his appearance as the first in his family to be an American by birth.

[Donkees]

27. We honor our ancestors' sacrifices and hopes by living our lives with gratitude ...

May this baby girl thrive and help bring her family's dreams and hopes to fruition.

[Texaswitchy]

36. One lucky little girl.

Her family escaped a horrible life.

[Texaswitchy]

31. My last immigrant ancestors were Great Grandparents.

They came with 5 kids and had 8 more here.

My grandmother was next to the last.

She was pregnant coming over so the 6th child was born here not on the ship by a few days.

They came thru Galveston.

The kid was born a Texan.

[3auld6phart]

19. Truly

an international baby. Over whose airspace? Thanks loads
to the Medics.

[NullTuples]

20. Weird choice of who to center on, but okay...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. YEP.

[Hekate]

22. The baby? The mother? The US military personnel? As a human-interest story it's got everything.

[NullTuples]

24. There was a baby and mother? My apologies, I must have missed that part.

[Hekate]

25. Everybody else got it

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

32. They were in the article. They were transported to a hospital and are doing fine.

I presume the crew of the airplane are also doing fine, as are the medics who met them after they landed, they're doing fine, too.

[xmas74]

35. It was a series of three Tweets from Air Mobility Command.

It makes sense that they would focus more on their side of the situation.

[xmas74]

34. Not really.

It's from Air Mobility Command. Of course the story will be centered on themselves and their actions. I looked up the handle at the bottom of the post and found it on their Twitter account.

[NullTuples]

43. Still, it sets a tone for the culture.

[xmas74]

44. Nope.

The tweet is from them. They're telling everyone there was an unexpected medical issue and they handled it. We are dealing with evacuees so it's not as though they're going to splash momma and baby's faces across the news, shoving mics in mom's face and demanding the scoop.

This was a military evacuation. They handled a medical emergency. They did what they were trained to do and it sounds like they did a good job, considering the facilities and circumstances. The tweet was a simple " This happened, we did this, this happened, we did this, everyone is ok, The End." This wasn't even an article that might go into further detail. It was a series of three short Tweets from the Air Force.

[NullTuples]

46. OK, thanks

[MustLoveBeagles]

30. That's wonderful

Best of luck to the baby girl and her parents. Good job USAF.

[Skittles]

45. and we have people here whining about wearing a mask

what an ordeal; I wish the best for mum and baby