Navy Corpsman earns Soldier’s Medal
The Virginia Pilot tells the story Petty Officer Roy Jaquez a Navy Corpsman who was awarded the Army’s highest peacetime medal for rescuing three contractors from a burning crashed helicopter;
“The still-running engine threatened to further shatter the remaining rotor blades and send shrapnel flying indiscriminately across the crash site. One of the helicopter’s fuel tanks ruptured, spilling highly flammable aviation fuel around the wreckage, threatening a massive explosion and potential detonation of the high-explosive mortar rounds that had spilled from the helicopter’s cargo hold.”
Category: Real Soldiers
ok dumb question, but Isn’t he supposed to get the NAVY medal? just askin here.
That’s what I thought as well. USN has the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
Maybe he was assigned to an Army command at the time?
What’s weirder is that it was an AF helo that crashed. Maybe he was somehow assigned to USSOCOM which is an Army command?
Kudos to this guy for doing what he needed when the situation called for it.
On a side note, WTH camo is he wearing? It looks like ACU but in different colors?
BTW, been lurking for a couple months, I enjoy the posts and everyone’s comments.
@4 – It’s the latest iteration of MARPAT – USMC digital pattern cammies. This version has more of a multicam flavor.
Army’s highest peacetime medal???????? Peacetime? I thought we were at war. The guys I bring back sure as heck believe we are.
@3 Doc when I was stationed at SOCOM I still received NAMs and other Navy devices. I’m not sure how a squid gets an Army citation.
Maybe that was the highest award the Army was allowed to give non Army personell…..
and a medic too, huh, why am I not surprised?
Apparently three others were recommended as well, one Navy, two Army and one Air Force. You can read about the other Navy dude, Lt. Kyle Burditt, who received the honour here. You have to scroll down to Page 6 for the article.
@6, the Soldier’s Medal is awarded for actions not involving the enemy.
The Soldier’s Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States, or of a friendly foreign nation who while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, distinguished him/herself by heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.
he must have been attached to the Army. The criteria does not specify that he/has to be in the Army but serving with the Army.
Another beny is that if he retires from the Military he may get an increase in the retirement equal to that of earning the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Regardless of what he rates on paper, good on him for doing what he did.
#5 I’m it was held up for a few years, you know there is a delay sometimes with copyright and everything.
@13 does anyone remember the good old days when the only way you could tell what branch a guy was in was to read his nametape?
In the Joint world, sometimes Sailors get Army medals. A friend of mine got an Army Com for his IA in Iraq, for example. . .
13# I didn’t make that very clear, that was a MARPAT reference.
Doc–that would make WAY too much sense and cost MUCH less money. I just had to buy some stupid Sage Green boots to go w/my uniform because the AF decided that the desert ones that they had me wear 3 yrs ago weren’t good enough any more. Color coordination is important to the enemy or something like that.
Now the Navy has some blue pixelated abomination, the AF has a “Battle” uni that melts when it gets hot–you know–like in an IED or Fire and had stupid tony the tiger pattern to it that didn’t blend in with a GD thing except for a formation of Soldiers in ACUs, the Army had one that didn’t blend into anything except concrete and asphalt–sorta.
But one thing unites us all–Disco Ball Reflective Belts.