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Seaman Paul T. Alba, 20, with 1st Medical Battalion here, was awarded a Purple Heart after receiving a 2-inch scar from rocket shrapnel while serving alongside Marines in Iraq.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis

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Hospitalmen's rich legacy growing in Iraq;

23 Jun 2005 | #NAME? Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The essence of a hospital corpsman? No need to explain it to Seaman Paul T. Alba.

The 2-inch scar on his neck, coupled with the Purple Heart he collected for his trouble, underscore his credentials as a torch bearer for a 107-year heritage marked by faithful healing and heroism.

Alba, 20, with 1st Medical Battalion, was riding in a convoy when his camp was ambushed in the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

That's when he and a comrade heard the distinct whistle of a 122 mm rocket - actually, two rockets. The pair missed him and hit the nearby mess hall, he said.

"Since it hit chow hall, I went back inside telling everyone what happened, and within 15-30 seconds ... a third hit the doorway of the clinic - killing the two Army guys by the door,"Alba recalled.

Sharp shards of shrapnel whizzed throughout the room. One piece lodged in Alba's neck - just above his jugular vein.

Despite the wound and resulting numbness, he didn't stop trying to help.

"The adrenaline was pumping," Alba said.. "I knew I got hit, but others did too."

As Alba feverishly worked the room, a fellow corpsman noticed the wound during a "blood sweep," where the corpsman checks his body.

While most corpsmen will wind up treating a serious injury or two - and many more during what amounts to guerrilla war - few actually wind up wounded while treating the wounded.

But Alba says that's no big deal.

"Yeah, I got a Purple Heart, but it's the one award you don't want to get," he said. He marvels at how some Marines relish danger.

"I know some Marines that come to clinic saying, 'I'm gonna get a Purple Heart for this,' and are ready to go back out to the fight," Alba said.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamar D. Williams has seen such bravado. He treats Marines being whisked away from the battlefield aboard "medevac" vehicles. They carry lifesaving medical supplies - including IV bags, oxygen and defibrulators.

Williams says a high-tech era with higher-echelon care near the front lines and faster response times results in more happy endings for corpsmen bent on saving lives.

"The turnaround for wounded patient care has been good lately. I can get them to a real hospital within 48 hours," said Williams, who deployed to OIF twice with the 11th Marine Regiment.

"(Fast response is) important, because I had a guy come through with his arm blown off," he said.

Williams says the job can get emotional. His brothers-in-arms die. Innocent Iraqi civilians die. And at times, it seemed the casualties kept coming.

"There were lots of nights where we spent the entire night treating the wounded and trying to assure them that they were going to pull through," Petty Officer 2nd Class Dionicio Jorge, a hospital corpsman with 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, said June 10 at the 53 Area Regimental Aid Station, after a ceremony marking the 107th Hospital Corps Birthday.

"We all fought on the same dirt out there, and the hardest part of being out there was accepting the fact that you cannot save them all," added Jorge, who served during some of the most violent stages of OIF after Baghdad fell. "Those memories of losing Marines will stick with you forever."

"It is hard to keep calm when you see a Marine that is severely wounded," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Alawndus Davis, also a corpsman with 1st Bn., 4th Marines.

But the job has its rewards.

"The greatest feeling you can ever have as a hospital corpsman is when they come back to you walking on their own two feet and they say 'Hey, doc, thanks for what you did for me.'"

Williams is proud of the legacy forged by sailors before him.

"It feels good to be a part of a long tradition of corpsmen - and also 'the other half' of the Marine Corps," Williams said.

The feeling is mutual.

During the ceremony, Col. Michael A. Shupp, 1st Marines' commander, praised the corpsmen's dedication.

"They have made contributions and sacrifices to this country and Corps that will forever be remembered," he said.

Afterward, many Marines thanked the sailors for being there when they needed them.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Anthony Roberson, also with 1st Bn., 4th Marines, said the gratitude goes both ways.

"We believe we owe the Marines just as much thanks as they owe us," he said. "We were very fortunate to have them protecting us out there. We trusted them with our lives, just like they trusted us with theirs. We had their backs and they had ours."

Seaman Paul T. Alba, 20, with 1st Medical Battalion here, was awarded a Purple Heart after receiving a 2-inch scar from rocket shrapnel while serving alongside Marines in Iraq.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis

Download

Details

Hospitalmen's rich legacy growing in Iraq;

23 Jun 2005 | #NAME? Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

PRINT

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The essence of a hospital corpsman? No need to explain it to Seaman Paul T. Alba.

The 2-inch scar on his neck, coupled with the Purple Heart he collected for his trouble, underscore his credentials as a torch bearer for a 107-year heritage marked by faithful healing and heroism.

Alba, 20, with 1st Medical Battalion, was riding in a convoy when his camp was ambushed in the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

That's when he and a comrade heard the distinct whistle of a 122 mm rocket - actually, two rockets. The pair missed him and hit the nearby mess hall, he said.

"Since it hit chow hall, I went back inside telling everyone what happened, and within 15-30 seconds ... a third hit the doorway of the clinic - killing the two Army guys by the door,"Alba recalled.

Sharp shards of shrapnel whizzed throughout the room. One piece lodged in Alba's neck - just above his jugular vein.

Despite the wound and resulting numbness, he didn't stop trying to help.

"The adrenaline was pumping," Alba said.. "I knew I got hit, but others did too."

As Alba feverishly worked the room, a fellow corpsman noticed the wound during a "blood sweep," where the corpsman checks his body.

While most corpsmen will wind up treating a serious injury or two - and many more during what amounts to guerrilla war - few actually wind up wounded while treating the wounded.

But Alba says that's no big deal.

"Yeah, I got a Purple Heart, but it's the one award you don't want to get," he said. He marvels at how some Marines relish danger.

"I know some Marines that come to clinic saying, 'I'm gonna get a Purple Heart for this,' and are ready to go back out to the fight," Alba said.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamar D. Williams has seen such bravado. He treats Marines being whisked away from the battlefield aboard "medevac" vehicles. They carry lifesaving medical supplies - including IV bags, oxygen and defibrulators.

Williams says a high-tech era with higher-echelon care near the front lines and faster response times results in more happy endings for corpsmen bent on saving lives.

"The turnaround for wounded patient care has been good lately. I can get them to a real hospital within 48 hours," said Williams, who deployed to OIF twice with the 11th Marine Regiment.

"(Fast response is) important, because I had a guy come through with his arm blown off," he said.

Williams says the job can get emotional. His brothers-in-arms die. Innocent Iraqi civilians die. And at times, it seemed the casualties kept coming.

"There were lots of nights where we spent the entire night treating the wounded and trying to assure them that they were going to pull through," Petty Officer 2nd Class Dionicio Jorge, a hospital corpsman with 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, said June 10 at the 53 Area Regimental Aid Station, after a ceremony marking the 107th Hospital Corps Birthday.

"We all fought on the same dirt out there, and the hardest part of being out there was accepting the fact that you cannot save them all," added Jorge, who served during some of the most violent stages of OIF after Baghdad fell. "Those memories of losing Marines will stick with you forever."

"It is hard to keep calm when you see a Marine that is severely wounded," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Alawndus Davis, also a corpsman with 1st Bn., 4th Marines.

But the job has its rewards.

"The greatest feeling you can ever have as a hospital corpsman is when they come back to you walking on their own two feet and they say 'Hey, doc, thanks for what you did for me.'"

Williams is proud of the legacy forged by sailors before him.

"It feels good to be a part of a long tradition of corpsmen - and also 'the other half' of the Marine Corps," Williams said.

The feeling is mutual.

During the ceremony, Col. Michael A. Shupp, 1st Marines' commander, praised the corpsmen's dedication.

"They have made contributions and sacrifices to this country and Corps that will forever be remembered," he said.

Afterward, many Marines thanked the sailors for being there when they needed them.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Anthony Roberson, also with 1st Bn., 4th Marines, said the gratitude goes both ways.

"We believe we owe the Marines just as much thanks as they owe us," he said. "We were very fortunate to have them protecting us out there. We trusted them with our lives, just like they trusted us with theirs. We had their backs and they had ours."