A familiar face was in the backseat of an F-16 trainer here April 12.
Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of trauma at the University Medical Center (UMC), was chosen as the Hometown Hero for the “Thunder and Lightening Over Arizona†open house. Rhee, was the lead trauma surgeon on Jan. 8, 2011, for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others wounded in a shooting outside of a market on Tucson’s northwest side.
Rhee’s experience as a captain in the U.S Navy served him well as he guided his staff in the treatment of the wounded brought to UMC that day in January. During his 24 years in the navy, Rhee served as a battlefield casualty physician in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Rhee’s wife Emily, and their two children, a son and a daughter, were at the base as he prepared for his flight and observed his takeoff and landing from show center.
