Why Marines like their corpsmen
From the Navy Times comes the story a Navy Corpsman, Jake Emmott, who despite withering gun fire continued to treat “his” Marines, until he was knocked unconscious by a gunshot wound to the head. When he regained consciousness, Emmott refused treatment and continued to treat the wounded Marines and staggered to the helicopter on his own two legs;
A year later, Emmott, now an HM2, was presented with the Silver Star. Emmott was honored, along with fellow service members and caregivers, at the annual Navy Safe Harbor awards ceremony July 14 outside Washington. The Safe Harbor program provides nonmedical support for 688 wounded or ill sailors and Coast Guardsmen.
The award caps a remarkable turnaround for the 22-year-old from Wakefield, R.I. After a year of surgeries and rehab, Emmott is on track to recover.
The injuries were severe. The bullet pierced Emmott’s sinus cavity and exited behind his left ear, narrowly missing the vital carotid artery. Surgeons removed a third of his skull to relieve pressure on his swelling brain.
Sgt. Alan McAlister, then Emmott’s squad leader, saw him get shot.
“Initially, it was like, ‘OK, he’s dead,’ ” McAlister recalled thinking. “Focus on the firefight, getting everybody out of here. When he came back to life, it’s like, ‘Oh, here we go. This just got interesting.’ ”
Emmott plans on returning to his unit and to his job as a corpsman.
Category: Real Soldiers
Doc, B Z – Way to focus on taking care of ‘your’ Marines.
(When he came back to life, it’s like … )”‘Oh, here we go. This just got interesting.’” … Yeah I reckon. That is the quote of the year. Well Done Doc!!!
#2 Agreed!
I can guarantee you that Doc Emmott has not paid for a beer since returning to Camp Lejeune.
God Bless you, shipmate! You make all us sailors proud.
Have always loved the Devildocs. Some of the toughest guys in the Marine Corps.
I wish that every single phony-ass sumbitch who claims to be high-speed, low-drag, balls-out heroes could just line up so guys like Petty Officer Emmott could get some therapeutic ball-kicking in to those worthless meatbags.
Semper-fucking-Fi, Doc!!
Oorah!
I’d like to share with you my recent communication with the Marine Corps Museum. First, I have visited the Museum several times over the last few years and always come away with a feeling of sadness because Corpsman, I feel along with a few of my Marine buddies, are under represented there. My last visit I left a “Comment Carsd” with this feeling. This is the Museums response via an email and then my response. —– Original Message —- From: Sullivan CIV Robert J To: ronbobele@yahoo.com Sent: Mon, June 27, 2011 10:43:28 AM Subject: YOUR COMMENT CARD Dear Mr Bobele, I’m sorry your recent trip to the National Museum of the Marine Corps was not as exciting as it should have been. We do in fact recognize US Navy Hospital Corpsmen in our museum. Here are but a few examples: -World War I Gallery: the film in the immersive exhibit shows Marines crossing the wheat field into German machine gun positions. In one dramatic scene, the Marine Lieutenant is hit by shrapnel from an exploding shell, the Gunnery Sgt yells for the Corpsman, and the Corpsman runs to the fallen Lieutenant. -World War II Gallery: at the entrance to the gallery in the large glass exhibit case are two static cast figures, a wounded Marine on a stretcher and a Corpsman administering first aid to him. In the Iwo Jima exhibit, the USN insignias on the panel near the Iwo flag represent Navy losses to include Corpsmen. Lastly, Doc Bradley is included in the photo of the 2d flag raising. -Korean War Gallery: the immersive exhibit shows Capt Barber’s grunt company holding their position against heavy Chinese attackers near the Frozen Chosin, a cast figure of Capt Barber is shown, wounded in the thigh being treated by another cast figure of a Corpsman. -Vietnam Gallery: two areas, in the film of the Operation Box Score (located in the hut behind the dog), “Doc” Steve Thompson is featured in film (received Silver Star) and in an exhibit on Navy-Marine Team, images of Corpsmen are included. -Legacy Walk (timeline) Gallery: included in… Read more »