Reporter honored for saving Marine

[Muck]

American Forces News

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Navy Honors Civilian Journalist for Saving Marine’s Life
By Army Staff Sgt. Joy Pariante
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2009 – A civilian journalist received a top Navy honor in Iraq on Jan. 24 for his heroism in saving a Marine’s life while in Afghanistan.

Then-Fox News cameraman Chris Jackson, embedded with a Marine Corps platoon, was traveling by Humvee down a dangerous road in Afghanistan on Aug. 3 when it hit 50 pounds of homemade explosives. All of the vehicle’s passengers escaped the flaming vehicle, with the exception of vehicle commander Marine Corps Sgt. Courtney Rauch.

The blast severely injured Rauch and knocked him unconscious. Jackson, despite having received shrapnel wounds himself, rushed back to the vehicle, pulled Rauch out and carried him to safety.

"Without Chris' quick thinking and heroic act, I would have lost my life that day," Rauch said. "Chris forgot about being a reporter that day and became one of our brothers and acted as one of us. Chris went above and beyond his duty."

Jackson, who now works for CNN/Turner Broadcasting, was presented with the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award, the second-highest award given to civilians by the Navy, for his actions. Jackson received the award at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, outside of Baghdad, during a stop in Iraq en route to India. An audience of appreciative Marines was on hand during the ceremony.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Paul Lefebvre, deputy commanding general for Multinational Corps Iraq, has a son in the same company with which Jackson was traveling. Lefebvre, who presented the award on behalf of the Navy, asked his son if all the wonderful things being said about Jackson were true.

"I asked him, 'Is this the real thing?' and he said, 'Yeah Dad, this guy's a hero,'" Lefebvre said. "This was not an everyday action. It came from somewhere deep inside and shows such a level of courage and commitment.”

When told in front of the crowd why he was invited to Al Faw Palace, Jackson blushed. "It goes to show that Marines have a good sense of humor," he said. "I was told I was coming here for a briefing."

Jackson said he didn't think twice about risking his own life to save someone else's.

"I wasn't thinking. I saw there was trouble, and I didn't even think about grabbing a camera and filming it," Jackson said. "I just did what anyone else would do if someone was in trouble."

 

[BuckeyeSoldier]

great story, dont understand the title... what is code pink?

 

[Jake]

great story, dont understand the title... what is code pink?

A group of naive children disguised as women.

CODEPINK?:?Index

 

[Muck]

great story, dont understand the title... what is code pink?

Antiwar group that gained notoriety for trying to run a USMC recruiting station out of Berkeley.

 

[ScarletBlood31]

That's awesome.

 

[Apache]

Marine

American Forces News

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Semper Fi.

 

[Muck]

Heroic guardsmen pull live bomb out of Marine

Months after military medics from New Mexico made the brave decision to pull a live explosive out of a young Marine, the guardsmen shared their story.

A crew of New Mexico National Guardsmen, well-practiced in medevacking wounded troops off the battlefield in Afghanistan, made a decision that few can fathom.

"Each of us on the aircraft had to agree to take the patient on," Spc. Mark Edens said.

Their patient, Lance Cpl. Winder Perez, had a foot-long rocket-propelled grenade embedded in his left side. It could have exploded at any time.

"There was quite a bit of alarm among the crew at the time, as you can imagine," Capt. Kevin Doo said.

Perez needed to be flown to the nearest medical unit, which was around 65 miles away.

"If the RPG exploded, you know Spc. Edens and Sgt. Hardesty are working on the patient directly over him, shrapnel alone would have been devastating. And about 18 inches behind where the patient is lying is over 300 gallons of jet aviation fuel and it would have been catastrophic," Doo said.

When the chopper landed, a Navy trauma nurse ordered his staff to stay away. The young Marine was still fully conscious.

"I took him by the hand he said, 'Where is everybody?' and I said, 'You have an RPG in your leg and everybody is staying away from you. I promise you I will not leave you until that thing is out of your leg,'" Lt. Cmdr. James Gennari said.

Rescue crews were able to get the live round out of the young Marine. He's still recovering in a Washington D.C. hospital.

The link above has a video interview with the airmen & footage of the actual procedure.

 

[Muck]

Heartbreaking story of the terminally ill boy, 12, who became a Marine (and had an honour guard at the hospital on the night he died)

Throughout his short life, young Cody Green had admired the bravery of the U.S. Marines.

But after years spent battling leukaemia, it was the youngster's courage fighting cancer which inspired his heroes to honour his bravery.

The 12-year-old from Indiana had suffered from the disease throughout his life. First diagnosed just before his second birthday, he had beaten leukaemia three times - but the chemotherapy had reduced his immune system and, last weekend, he died from a fungus which attacked his brain.

And standing guard outside his hospital room that night was a local Marine named Mark Dolfini who was so moved by Cody's continued cancer battle that he decreed the 12-year-old to be a honorary member of the elite military unit.

.../cont/...

Semper Fi Cody

 

[Muck]

Triathalon Triump

Ben Baltz wasn't excited about competing in yet another triathlon last weekend.

It was his third in the last few months. While he likes bicycling, running isn't his favorite activity, especially if he can't win doing it.

The 11-year-old had completed the 150-yard swim and three-mile bike ride in Sunday's Sea Turtle Tri on Pensacola Beach, but about a half-mile into the run, he knew something was wrong.

"It (the leg) wobbles," Ben said Wednesday at his home in Valparaiso.

Moments later, the screws on his prosthetic leg came loose and he went down.

What happened next, though, has captured the attention of the nation.

In the moments Ben was debating whether he could hop or maybe crawl the rest of the mile, a man named Matthew Morgan, a Marine who had volunteered to help at the youth event, stepped in.

"(Morgan said) 'You need help' and I said, 'Sure,' and he picked me up and carried me," Ben said.

.../cont/...

The story also made it to the UK

.../snip/...
Ben's mother said he was disappointed he hadn't been able to finish on his own, but that she told him he was an inspiration to people for the battle he had already won.

'We want to give him the message that he can do anything,' she said. 'And he has an inspirational story and he just needs to be thankful that he is able to do it because there are a lot of kids out there that are still fighting cancer. We just want him to get out there and participate in life.'

Participating in life is not something the youngster has shied away from; the triathlon, which involved a 150-yard swim and three-mile bike ride, was his third in three months.

Ben also takes part in soccer - and suffered another leg malfunction when he had to tape the limb together with duct tape to finish a game.

He has also played for the Wounded Warriors Amputee Baseball Team and participated in a deep-sea fishing trip with other children who are currently battling and have survived cancer.

.../snip/...​

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The Marines in question are 'A' School students at NTTC Corry Station.

 

[GomerBucks]

More than anything else I have done/accomplished in my life. My service in the Marine Corps comes first. These stories are a reminder of why the Marines are respected world wide as the finest fighting force in history. "No better friend, no worse enemy."

 

[scooter1369]

More than anything else I have done/accomplished in my life. My service in the Marine Corps comes first. These stories are a reminder of why the Marines are respected world wide as the finest fighting force in history. "No better friend, no worse enemy."

Amen brother. Semper Fi.