SPC Amanda Dillard; saving the world, one person at a time.
Today I had the honor of witnessing Specialist Amanda Dillard of the 47th Combat Support Hospital presented with the Soldiers Medal for her actions in assisting the driver of a recent and severe car accident. Now to say “assisted” would be a gross understatement. I will have to ask your indulgence, because I do not have the award write up and I could not find a news story link when it happened around late 2014. Trying to remember the story from the presentation, it went something like this.
Specialist Amanda Dillard was driving off of JBLM at the end of the day when she came across a truck that had slid off the road and crashed into a tree head on. The truck totaled with the black smoke coming out of the engine. Dillard went through the passenger side to assess the situation. The driver suffered a C-2 fracture along other injuries that were not described. To make matters worse, the driver was going in and out of consciousness. He was able to survive the crash because she immobilized his head and neck for at least thirty minutes before medical personal arrived on the scene. During the times that the driver would come around, she kept him calm and comforted as much as possible. Specialist Amanda Dillard said that she used jokes and light conversation to help distract from their situation. She visited him at the hospital during his recovery to see how he was doing. She did not inform anyone about her actions that day. The only reason that 47th Combat Support Hospital found out about her actions was because of a was a member of the emergency service was able to contact one of her NCOs, who then informed the unit.
During the presentation the driver of the truck spoke how amazing grateful he was to her and how things could have been drastically worse had she not done what she did. Saving the world, one person at a time.
UPDATED March 15 2015.
Here is a news story written by the JBLM Northwest Guardian about the award ceremony.
Category: Real Soldiers
Well done, Specialist Dillard!
This article got the thoughty juices flowing a bit on the notion of how military experience has helped our society.
SPC Dillard used her skills from working in combat medicine. We’ve read other stories here about soldiers and other military folks running into emergencies and using their basic medical training. Certainly a civilian trained in emergency medicine will assist in a medical emergency, but a person who has not been in the military hasn’t had training nor have they worked in an environment where the response to trouble is to jump into it.
My point (and there is one!) is that military participation is declining in our society. Will we pay a price with fewer citizens having skills and that military attitude of “running toward the sound of the guns” to help out?
George V.
Good point.
Great observation George V. What really struck me about SPC Dillard’s performance is something not stated in the post. While she is assigned to a CSH, I don’t think she is a medical service soldier. When I increased the size of the picture to get a better look I saw she is wearing the Signal Corps Regimental crest. It appears to me that SPC Dillard is a commo soldier who performed this deed without the benefit of any MOS-specific medical training. Very well done, and it says a lot to me about her character. This reflects very well on her, the folks who raised her and the NCOs who trained her.
Well done, Specialist Dillard! Well done indeed, and thank you.
These are the stories that I wish got more attention than they actually do.
What a great lady!
That guy had a C-2 fracture and he’s up walking around and was able to give her a bigass bear hug ???
She certainly DID a miraculous job !!!
Seriously, he should be in a wheelchair on a ventilator paralyzed from the neck down.
Way to go kid !!!
Proud to have her for a Sister in Arms !!!
Salute !!!
Good for her! We need her, and more like her.
Amen!
Very well done Specialist Amanda Dillard!!! A hero and humble on top of it! Told no one. She should have gotten an ARCOM as well in my mind.
No wait, those are now reserved for Blue Falcons like First Sgt. Katrina Moerk (I just spit on the floor). Sorry I shouldn’t have even used their names in the same post. One is a hero, the other is, well, we all know what she is.
My utmost respect, young lady.
Congratulations to SPC Dillard but what’s the story on the female officer next to her?
Special Forces patch,combat badge,wings and a ribbon rack that almost says, “continued on other side”.
Looks like a soldier we should know about too.
She is the current commander of the 47th CSH.
I think that the colonel was in my CGSC class. I know her from somewhere, and that was one of the few places where I had a lot of CSS folks around. I’ll check my yearbook.
That is COL Caci, the hospital commander of the 47th CSH… One of the best commanders I’ve encountered!
She is quite an outstanding woman and leader- she’s pushing the CSH to the next level in training and preparedness too.
She was in my CGSC class. I’m guessing that she’s screaming up the ranks since she was a MAJ about 8 years ago and already in an O-6 command. The only other guy I know who’s doing that and was in that class is a BDE CDR now. He’s West Point and was BZ for LTC and COL.
It looks like her EFBM was replaced by a CAB sometime between CGSC and now.
BRAVO ZULU, Soldier!!
A credit to her family, her unit and her country.
Well done.
Excellent!
Outstanding job. While we’re at it give her E-8 Moerk’s ARCOM. She deserves more than Moerk.
Thank you all for your kind words! I found this through Reddit- I hadn’t been made aware how far this story has actually made it (at least in such a short amount of time)
I’m a 25B assigned to the 47th CSH… No extensive medical training! I’m just glad the survivor is alive and well and back to his contractor job on JBLM!
Thank you, again, for your kind words. Please, if you’re currently serving, take this as an opportunity to train your soldiers in properly responding to a car accident, how to asses the situation (if they person HAS to be moved, stabilized, etc), and how to keep calm!!
You all rock for the support and kind words! THANK YOU!
Good on yer, young lady!
Out friggin standing, SPC Dillard!