Veteran Dr. Lewis Neace Shares Para-Rescue Experiences

WAITSBURG – "The last time I spoke before this student body was in 1967, when I had to give the valedictorian speech. I'm about as nervous now as I was then," said Dr. Lewis Neace as he addressed students and community members during a Veteran's Day program in the Waitsburg High School gymnasium last Thursday.

The statement is surprising coming from a man who spent a good portion of his career parachuting behind enemy lines to rescue military personnel as commander of the 920th USAF para-rescue wing.

Neace said he retired from the Air Force Reserves regretfully in 2014 when he couldn't fly combat, jump or dive any more.

"I couldn't do any fun stuff, so I retired. I still regret it. I'd happily hop back on an airplane and do what needs to be done," Neace said.

As a civilian, Neace practiced emergency medicine at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Ore. but would travel monthly to Cocoa Beach, Fla. to perform the military rescue work that took him across the globe.

Neace began his military career as a reservist in 1983 at McChord Air Force Base in Washington. In 1985, the Portland Air National Guard rescue wing expanded and added a medical unit. Neace said he was asked if he would like to become a para-rescue man.

"I didn't know exactly what they did, but it sounded like a challenge," Neace said. "The problem is I was 37 when I started and most of the other guys were 18-20 so I had about 20 years on them," he added.

Neace spent months working out and, at age 39, began free fall and para-rescue training. Neace said that para-rescue programs have a 95% washout rate – higher than Navy Seals - and some classes have no graduates. Neace was one of two to graduate in his class. The other student was a physician who was training to be an astronaut.

Neace worked from the para-rescue wing in Portland and would perform frequent rescue missions in the mountains and oceans.

"If I didn't turn up for dinner, my family would often turn on the news to learn that we were out performing a rescue," he said.

"In 2001, when 9/11 happened, things really changed. We were constantly deployed to Germany, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, and various other destinations in the Middle East.

"Our main job was to treat the injured. If you can get to the first level of medical care with a pulse, you have a 90% chance of coming home," Neace said.

Neace is credited with having a big impact on the training practices of para-rescue men. He advocated that all para-rescue men should be certified paramedics. That requirement, which started in Portland, is now standard procedure.

In 1992, Neace developed and implemented plans for the Air Force Reserve to assume responsibility for medical transport in the Miami area following Hurricane Andrew.

Neace said he also spent about two weeks performing transport and evacuation in Jackson, Miss. following Hurricane Katrina.

"It was quite a mess, but very rewarding," he said.

In addition to his emergency medical work at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Neace has been medical program director in Pacific County and Columbia County, Ore., and was chief of staff at Ocean Beach Hospital in Illwaco, Wash. He served as director of emergency medicine at St. Helens Hospital in Oregon, and was medical director at Eastmoreland Hospital in Portland, until it closed in 2003. He also served two years as Eastmoreland's chief of staff.

Neace earned his doctorate of osteopathic medicine and served his internship at the University of Health Sciences in Kansas City, Mo., and he holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Whitman College.

He is also a distinguished graduate of the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. Since 1989 he has served as a space shuttle flight surgeon for NASA.

His wife, Dr. Gwynneth Neace, also has a distinguished medical career, and is currently working as a pediatrician at Columbia County Health System in Dayton, Wash.

Neace encouraged students to work hard and to take advantage of the opportunities they have growing up in this area.

"You are getting a great education here. There are so many graduates of Waitsburg High School that have gone on to do incredible things in medicine, science ... we have world class teachers, PhD's, business leaders, attorneys. All went to high school here and all flourished. So even through you're going to a smaller school, don't let that concern you. You can do anything you want to do coming from here," he said.