Cpl. Matthew Dungan, Sgt. Justin Erler and Lance Cpl. Eduardo Rosario saving the world

Last week, we wrote about Marine Master Sergeant Hector Trujillo who was gravely injured when he rescued a Japanese citizen from a automobile wreck in Okinawa. Stars & Stripes reports that Trujillo was, in turn, rescued by three other Marines, Corporal Matthew Dungan, Sergeant Justin Erler and Lance Corporal Eduardo Rosario, on the roadway that day;

Erler, a 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion boat mechanic, jumped into action and performed CPR on Trujillo, with assistance from Cpl. Matthew Dungan and Lance Cpl. Eduardo Rosario — both of the 9th Engineer Support Battalion — until paramedics arrived.

The three Marines have been credited with saving the life of the 44-year-old father of three.

[…]

“There were some cars out in the middle of the road,” Erler told Stars and Stripes during an interview last week at Camp Hansen. “The first thing I did is I just ran to go assess and see what’s going on. That’s when I found the master sergeant. He was unconscious and he wasn’t breathing.”

Erler began chest compressions right where the master sergeant had fallen near the median. Dungan and Rosario assisted him.

“All of us have kind of been brought up the same way,” Dungan said of his fellow Marines. “If we see somebody [in trouble, helping] is just what we do. We have to help them; we can’t just leave them.”

Erler said the situation got personal when he saw Trujillo’s wedding ring.

“If this was me, I would want someone to keep me going for my wife and my family,” he said.

The article says that Master Sergeant Trujillo is still in critical condition, but he’s improving.

Category: Marine Corps