Heros Welcome : Captain Aaron Kinney: Produced by Fox Media Group скачать в хорошем качестве

Heros Welcome : Captain Aaron Kinney: Produced by Fox Media Group

Tribute Videotaped by Luis Feliciano Produced by Fox Media Group (ChicagoCommercialVideo.com) Black Hawk pilot gets warm homecoming Welcome! MARENGO, Ill. — Army Capt. Aaron Kinney was looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing during his 15-day leave. That plan slightly was sidetracked when Kinney, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, was welcomed home Monday night to the cheers and smiling faces of the Warriors' Watch Riders, Marengo Mayor Donald B. Lockhart, and family and friends at Glo-Bowl Fun Center in Marengo. American flags were hoisted, and the national anthem blared throughout the facility as Kinney walked through the doors. Wearing the biggest smile in the crowd was Kinney's wife, Ashley Berman Kinney. Berman Kinney, who has worked as an assistant state's attorney in Rockford since July, met Kinney after her first year of law school while she was visiting her best friend who was stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany. During Berman Kinney's first day in Germany, her friend had invited her boyfriend and his boss over for pizza. The boss was Kinney, and the pair hit it off instantly. "I made excuses to hang out every day for the next four days," Kinney said. Berman Kinney then went to France to study for six weeks, but instead of returning home at the end of her coursework, she went back to Germany to be with Kinney. "We eloped after about six months of dating and were married publicly on Dec. 20, 2008," Berman Kinney said. Berman Kinney finished law school and graduated in May 2009. She then returned to Germany, where the pair lived together for a year before Kinney deployed to Afghanistan on July 7, 2010. The majority of Kinney's work is in medical evacuation, which puts him in charge of helicopters and crews tasked with supporting areas of thousands of people in case they need to be taken to a hospital. "I don't care about the politics of it," Kinney said. "We just go pick people up." While in Afghanistan, Kinney was involved in a helicopter accident in November 2010 while on a mission to rescue an Afghan resident. As the helicopter was trying to land, it became caught up in a ditch and rolled over. Fortunately no one on board was injured. Before his time in Afghanistan, Kinney also served a 15-month tour in Iraq, where he earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service. Kinney's name also has been submitted for a second Bronze Star for action in Afghanistan, honoring his overall work from July 2010 to July 2011. Kinney, 28, is a native of Woodland, Calif., and received his bachelor's in political science from University of California at Davis in 2005. While in Iraq, he was able to earn a master's degree in management from New England College online. Although he didn't always call Illinois home, he and Berman Kinney bought a house in Marengo five days before he deployed to Afghanistan. "I'll never be that happy about the cold," Kinney said, smiling. "I'm used to temperatures in the 50s in winter." When Kinney finishes his military obligation this July, he will return to his new home to work for First Army in Rock Island as an operations officer. He has plans to continue his education further, potentially pursuing a certificate in hospital administration. "As I've thought about getting out, I've realized I want to work with the VA hospitals," Kinney said.