Remembrance Ceremony Honors Fallen Military Medics
By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service
ARLINGTON, Va., March 11, 2009 – Beneath the rows of simple white headstones evenly spaced beneath a dull and cloudy mid-March sky, the stories of those who rest at Arlington National Cemetery here today are anything but ordinary.
Some were killed by heavy machine-gun fire. Others were showered with rockets or mortars. And many were surprised by the explosion of an unexpected roadside bomb. But for the more than 210 military medics, corpsmen, doctors and nurses who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, they were killed trying to save others, the Defense Department’s top medical official said.
“Their motto is ‘Good medicine, bad places,’” Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant defense secretary for health affairs, said during the first remembrance ceremony and wreath laying for military medical personnel killed in the war on terror. “When it mattered most, they answered the call.”
More than 100 friends, relatives and military members turned out for what officials plan to make an annual event to honor their loved ones and pay homage to a profession that almost always places its practitioners in difficult situations.
Casscells, who’s also an Army Reserve colonel in the medical corps, talked of his fellow medics and corpsmen who never hesitated to treat their enemy. He read excerpts of medics who were so badly wounded they died giving first aid instructions calmly to others, because they couldn’t provide the treatment themselves. He talked of others who gave their last minutes of life bandaging Iraqi children after a suicide bomb detonated.
“The decisions these medics and doctors and nurses make on the battlefield are a triumph of the human spirit,” he said. “No greater love has any man than this than to lay down his life for his friends -- and they have done exactly that.
Combat medics have one of the highest-risk jobs in the military, he said, noting the intense, rigorous training they undergo to save lives.
“They had training that didn’t exist in Vietnam or World War II,” he said. “They’re training to the level of [emergency medical treatment] and higher because of the tactical combat environment. They’re so intensively trained in things that would make a [civilian] doctor pause.”
More than 5,000 U.S. military lives have been lost on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan under the backdrop of guerilla warfare and unpredictably sophisticated tactics and military capability. However, thousands more may have been lost if not for medics and corpsmen first responders in the field, he said.
“Their skill and their bravery is the single most important reason why the fatality rate today in Iraq and Afghanistan is 10 percent vs. 23 percent in Vietnam,” he said. “This is despite much more powerful munitions, munitions which explode right under your vehicle.”
Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered her condolences and praised the military medical corps for their devotion to others. She said to remember them not for the life that was lost, but for the lives they saved.
“We come here today to pay tribute to the heroes of our heroes -- the men and women who risked their own lives and limbs to save the lives and limbs of others,” Mullen said. “Time cannot describe and words fail to convey the fidelity and ardor in which these brave souls did their duty.”
MILLERSVILLE, Md., March 4, 2009 - A tragedy could have been more tragic if it wasn't for the "absolutely heroic" actions of a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer early Wednesday morning.
Petty Officer Lavelas Luckey ran past several on-lookers at the scene of a fiery four-vehicle crash in Millersville, Md., reached into a burning car and saved a 5-year-old child. ...
As Luckey pulled the child from the car, an Anne Arundel County police officer tried to rescue the driver. He was unaware she was already dead.
"The Coast Guard motto Semper Paratus was demonstrated in the clearest terms today by an individual who placed himself is extreme danger to save a life," Ray says. ...
Luckey was on his way to work at the engineering logistics center at Curtis Bay when he stopped to help.
The green and white lights in the C-17 Globemaster’s massive cargo compartment go dark, replaced by the glow from a string of dim red bulbs.
It is 1 a.m., 30,000 feet over Afghanistan. No sense making the plane an easy target against the dark sky.
“Can I have your attention? We are starting our combat entry,” says a voice over a public address system.
Army troops quickly don flak jackets, and Air Force crew members strap on sidearms while the pilots in the armored cockpit put on night-vision goggles to scan the ground for flashes of light that might be gunfire.
Capt. Dave Gaulin of Cherry Hill guides the mammoth $200 million aircraft toward a glowing spot in the clouds, lit by runway lights below.
He and Capts. Chris Zielinski of Center City and James Sprys of Marlton are minutes away from Bagram Air Base, part of a sprawling American military presence in the shadow of the snowcapped Hindu Kush Mountains.
Their plane — flying last week with Army soldiers, Air Force airmen, and tons of supplies — is part of a long lifeline, a kind of Berlin Airlift that sustains the base, the 4,000 airmen at adjacent Camp Cunningham, and other U.S. troops battling the Taliban.
The majority of the course focuses on the jumpmaster personnel inspection. The sequence requires the jumpmaster to squat or bend down to visually inspect the jumper's equipment. Most jumpmasters will go into a deep squat during this portion as, going to a knee will take more time to get up and continuing the inspection.
During the final test students are required to properly inspect three jumpers and in five minutes find all deficiencies and conduct the inspection in the exact inspection sequence. For Fairfax his only option was to drop to a knee.
For fellow students in the course this would be the only clue that he was missing a leg. "Most guys saw him kind of limping around, but didn't know he was missing a leg," said the noncommissioned officer in charge during the course, Master Sgt. David West, from 2nd Bn., 3rd SFG.
"It wasn't until our first rotation in the (JMPI) circle and he dropped down on the concrete slab. It made such a loud sound all the guys turned and looked. The crack was so loud it sounded like rounds were dropping in. One guy asked him 'did that hurt' and he responded, "no, I don't have a knee."
For most Soldiers, when they join the Army there are a set of schools they set their eyes on as goals to complete. Schools like, Air Assault, Ranger and Pathfinder. For any airborne qualified noncommissioned officer, the natural goal would be the Jumpmaster Course. ...
For Fairfax, this journey began the summer of 2005 in a remote region of Afghanistan when his truck was struck by an improvised explosive device.
“Nothing compares to what our family is experiencing at this time, with the loss of Simone.
She was devoted to her friends, her family, her country and most importantly to her daughter, Nyzia. She wanted nothing more than to be a good role model for Nyzia and was dedicated to working hard to provide for her.
Simone had a smile that could easily light up a room and an angelic voice heard by so many. Simone sang her way through life, getting her through so much.
She is truly our hero and will always be in our hearts.”
Hello Everyone...
I just wanted to share this story with you guys and let you all know how I'm doing. I completed my second 5k this past Saturday out in Los Angeles. This was my first one out of the wheelchair! The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund has continued to show us tremendous support by flying us out there and putting us up for the weekend. It was an honor to give back by participating in the race and it supported a great cause.
- Cpl. Matthew Sondermann
Medic honored for Afghanistan actions
Staff sgt. awarded Silver Star for saving patients, soldiers and medevac crew
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 8:48:28 EST
When Staff Sgt. Matthew S. Kinney’s boots touched the ground in Afghanistan’s rugged Korengal Valley, he knew that six wounded soldiers were waiting for him.
Over the next 45 minutes to an hour, Kinney’s actions under fire to evacuate what eventually became eight wounded men would earn him a Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor.
Kinney, 30, had already served twice in Iraq when he deployed for his first tour in Afghanistan with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, of Fort Campbell, Ky.
By the time he came home in January after 12 months in Afghanistan, Kinney had earned a Silver Star, a Distinguished Flying Cross from a separate engagement, and responded to the aftermath of the July 2008 battle in Wanat, Afghanistan, a bloody clash that claimed the lives of nine soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
“In my mind, I’ve done a lot of stuff throughout my Army career, and I don’t feel like I should be awarded [the Silver Star],” Kinney told Army Times on Feb. 19 after his award ceremony. “It’s like I’m not deserving of the award. I was just doing my job.”
In the air, Kinney single-handedly treated five critical patients, controlling bleeding, administering pain control, dressing wounds and starting intravenous drips, according to the narrative. The wounds he worked on included partial amputations, femoral bleeding and gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
“On countless occasions, he demonstrated a willingness to lay down his own life for those he is sworn to protect,” according to the narrative. “By calling Apache fire onto the location of an enemy heavy machine gun during an ambush, he saved the lives of countless soldiers on the ground, as well as the lives of the entire medevac crew who had assumed a stationary hover over the kill zone.”
Kinney credited his fellow soldiers for their actions on that day.
“Everything happened the way it happened because you train that way as a team and we ended up doing it as a team,” he said. “When things start going bad you take the plan you have and adjust it so you can keep moving forward, because when you stop or hesitate is the second you lose an aircraft or somebody gets hurt or somebody dies,” he said. “I know I have to always keep moving. If something doesn’t work you just have to modify it and you can’t come up with ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m stressed’ or ‘I can’t do this.’ You have to find a way.”
