VIENNA Mock crash highlights military youth camp

The camp attracted about 100 children.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
VIENNA -- Children of military and civilian personnel at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station got a dose of reality Saturday in a mock traffic crash rescue operation.
The driving-under-the-influence drill was part of the 910th Airlift Wing's sixth annual Joint Services Youth Camp, which this year attracted about 100 children 9 to 17.
The camp, which began Friday and ends today with a noon cookout and awards, provides campers opportunities to experience some military training, participate in sports activities that teach teamwork, and have fun.
Mock accident
But, there is also a serious side, Brig. Gen. Michael F. Gjede, commander of the 910th, told the campers before Saturday's DUI demonstration.
"We want you to take away some lessons. I hope it's etched in your mind forever," Gjede said as the mock rescue began with the recorded sound of screeching tires and a crash.
Two buses, which screened the crash site from the young people when they marched to their bleacher seats, moved and revealed the staged carnage.
A car with four young adults, driven by a man who had been drinking, swerved and was hit broadside by a minivan carrying a mother, father and baby.
The driver of the car was wearing a seat belt and was not seriously injured. However, his girlfriend, riding on the side of the car that was hit, was killed. The other female in the car, also on the passenger side, had her arm severed, and the man in the back seat of the car was seriously injured.
The father, driver of the minivan, was not wearing a seat belt and was seriously injured. The mother, wearing a seat belt, was less seriously injured. The baby, in rear-seat restraints, was the only person not hurt.
"Oh my God. Everybody's hurt. There's a baby," said a frantic woman at the scene, played by Jerlynn Gjede, Gen. Gjede's wife. She called 911 and tried to reassure the victims.
Within a few moments emergency vehicles from the air base arrived on the scene. They were quickly joined by Ohio State Highway Patrol officers, fire and emergency medical vehicles from Vienna and Brookfield Townships, an ambulance and an evacuation helicopter.
Finally, wreckers arrived to clean up the crash site.
The final touch, as safety personnel worked for about an hour to dismantle the vehicles and extract the victims, was a frantic woman who arrived at the scene crying "my daughter is in there. I want to see my daughter." She was restrained and kept at a distance by safety personnel.
The injured were placed in ambulances, the dead girl was covered up, and the wreckage was cleared away.
Afterthoughts
Campers, focused on the activity, were left to contemplate what they had seen.
"At first, I thought it was real," said 11-year-old Haley McCormick of Niles. After realizing it was a demonstration, she said she thought it was "real cool" how they tore the cars apart. "It's the first time I've seen the Jaws of Life," she said.
"If people drink and drive, it really upsets me because it can ruin a lot of people's lives," Haley said.
Albert Propsi, 17, of New Lyme, said the weekend gives campers a chance to see the military outlook on things.
Propsi, whose father just arrived home from Iraq on Saturday, said the mock crash site was amazing.
"It looked like the real thing ... like a movie," he said.
Justin Mullett, 13, of Warren, who said he has seen a real crash scene before, described Saturday's demonstration as lifelike.
The DUI demonstration was coordinated by state Trooper Ron Craft, assisted by Trooper Lauren Merz, both from the Southington post. Air Force Reserve Sgt. Ron Mines is director of the youth camp.
All of the personnel in Saturday's DUI demonstration, as well as camp counselors, are volunteers, such as Anna Owen of McDonald, a civilian secretary for the Civil Engineering Squadron.
A three-year volunteer, Owen said the camp gives the kids hands-on experience that might someday save their lives or influence their career choices.
"If we save even one person from making the decision to drink and drive, we have accomplished our mission," Mrs. Gjede said.
alcorn@vindy.com