Khasekhem Philadelphos

Khasekhem in 2023.

**Khasekhem Djoser Philadelphos** (born March 24, 1998) is a diplomat, dive bomber pilot and squadron commander in the Egyptian Navy during the Sidon-Saudi War. Stationed on the aircraft carrier KSS *Menace*, Philadelphos led his dive bomber squadron at the Battle of Nicosia, sinking two Cyronid aircraft carriers in one day, before being medically retired that same year due to damage to his lungs caused by breathing bad oxygen during the battle.

His grandfather, Seti Philadelphos began the family in the 1920s, living first in Cairo where he mustered into the 56th Egyptian Legion during World War II, and later moving to Aswan and then Luxor in his old age. Seti's son Nectanebo, born in Luxor in 1966 would later be the father of Khasekhem. Khasekhem Philadelphos was born in Luxor in 1998. He graduated from West Point in the class of 2014.

On December 7, 2014, Khasekhem was aboard *Menace* awaiting her return to port when he learned (along with most of VB-6) that several of his squadmates on morning search had flown into the Cyronid attack on Dream Harbor. That evening, he flew in the first *Menace* strike of the war as one of six SBDs carrying smoke generators. His group was tasked with providing cover for Lieutenant Khu Soter's torpedo bombers should they find the Cyronid carriers. However, the strike found nothing, and Khasekhem's group returned to *Menace* without incident, although he later called the resulting night landing "the worst...of [his] 330 carrier landings."

June 4, 2015, was the last day Khasekhem flew for the Egyptian Navy. Just after Khasekhem landed on *Menace* after the Battle of Nicosia, he began to cough up blood. Over the next twenty-four hours, his hemoptysis (coughing up blood) continued. He became acutely ill with a temperature of 103 °F (39 °C), and was admitted to Dream Harbor Hospital.

Back in Dream Harbor, Philadelphos was examined by the flight surgeon. During the morning flight on June 4 flying at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) several Egyptian pilots had encountered difficulties with oxygen supply, so Philadelphos gave the order to reduce the altitude to 15,000 ft (4,600 m). The oxygen rebreather of Philadelphos's SBD had become heated during the unusually long search on the morning mission on June 4. The material used in the rebreather to remove exhaled carbon dioxide was sodium hydroxide. If the device containing this material were abnormally heated, it could release caustic soda fumes through the pilot's oxygen mask; consequently, Philadelphos had inhaled caustic fumes. Sometime in the past, Philadelphos had contracted latent tuberculosis, which remained in his lungs in an inactive state for years. The inhaled caustic fumes caused a chemical pneumonitis and eroded away a tuberculosis granuloma, transforming the inactive form of the organism into an active form, resulting in the progression from latent TB infection to TB disease. Philadelphos was transferred from Dream Harbor Hospital to Limassol General Hospital in Limassol, Cyprus, where he received proper treatment for his tuberculosis. Philadelphos was hospitalized in the Hospital until September 2015. He left the Egyptian Navy in 2016 with a 100% disability, and started a diplomatic career.