Without a doubt my favorite group of people are Soldiers. But amongst Soldiers, I have the highest regard and admiration for Combat Medics.

Of course, as a former Combat Medic, I’m a bit biased.

But men like Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor are the reason why:

Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor on Wednesday received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army’s second-highest valor award, for his actions during a 17-hour battle in Afghanistan.

The 47-year-old Special Forces medical sergeant spoke with humor and humility after the medal was pinned on his uniform in a ceremony at Bank Hall on Fort Bragg.

“My word!” O’Connor said, reacting to praise by a three-star Army general and a four-star Navy admiral. “My name is Brendan O’Connor, and I didn’t fully approve that message.”

In his self-effacing remarks, O’Connor apologized to his children for missing birthdays and thanked his wife, Margaret, for what she has done in raising their family in his absence.

And what did Master Sgt. O’Connor do to earn this medal?

O’Connor led a quick reaction force June 24, 2006, in Kandahar province’s Panjwai District, described by Special Forces as one of the most hotly contested areas of southern Afghanistan.

He maneuvered his force through Taliban positions and crawled alone through enemy machine-gun fire to reach two wounded soldiers, the citation said. He tied a signal cloth to his back to identify himself to aircraft overhead. While under fire, he provided medical care and carried a wounded soldier more than 150 yards across open ground. He climbed over a wall three times under enemy fire to help wounded soldiers seek cover. Then he took over as the operations sergeant and rallied, motivated and led his team.

One of the tenants of The Soldier’s Creed states, “I will always place the mission first.”

While every soldier is responsible for upholding all of the tenants of the creed, certain MOSs are “more” responsible for certain tenants than others because of different mission priorities.

For instance — “I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States o America in close combat” is the primary mission.” — The infantry, armored, and artillery divisions are all over this one.

But medics are most concerned with this one: “I Will Never Leave a Fallen Comrade.”

And that’s exactly what Master Sgt. O’Connor did. There are few things more heroic and noble than rising your own life to save that of one of your brothers.

Knowing what our barbaric Islamic enemies do to captured Soldiers or the recovered bodies of dead soldiers — if a Medic can’t save you on the field of battle, he’s going to die trying to make sure you’re not left behind either:

Maj. Sheffield Ford said after the ceremony that O’Connor picked up Sgt. Joseph Fuerst and carried him over his shoulder and ran while under fire.

“Knowing that bullets were coming in all around him, he didn’t hesitate,” Ford said. “He continued to get up and move because he knew he had to get Joe back if he was going to have a chance to try to save him.” Fuerst died, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Binney survived, Ford said.

To append what President Ronald Reagan once said, “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.” And now neither will Master Sgt. O’Connor.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 | Trackback |