Blood from United Blood Services that will benefit victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington was flown east by a Nevada Air Guard C-130 from the Air Guard base in Reno.
The aircraft, with six crew members from the152nd Airlift Wing, took off at about 8:15 p.m. and headed for an Air Guard Base in Phoenix.
The C-130, which was one of the very few aircraft allowed to fly , stopped briefly at Nellis Air Force Base to pick up additional blood from the Las Vegas area and then took off again for Phoenix. The blood will be tested in Phoenix and should be available to victims in the east within 24 hours.
Gov. Kenny Guinn urged Nevadans to continue donating blood to help the survivors of Tuesday's terrorist attacks.
"Like all Americans, I am sickened and saddened over these events, and my heart goes out to the vamilies of the victims," he said. "I am also very proud of how Nevadans have responded with blood donations and other offeres of assitance to the survivors."
Because of the recent terrorist events, the deployment of the 1864th Transportation Co. to Egypt is in question.
According to Col. Joseph Rooney, Deputy Chief of Staff for Training and Operations, "We are still waiting for the final word on this mission, but for the moment we are concentrating on the present catastrophic events."
Forty-two Nevada Army Guard soldiers were scheduled to travel to Egypt to participate in an international exercise in mid-September.
