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Marine Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chris Hedgcorth participates in the 33rd Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., Oct. 26, 2008. He completed the 26.2 miles on a hand cycle as part of a fundraising effort for other wounded servicemembers. Courtesy photo by Nicole Benitez[/caption]
"There was a second rocket that kind of bounced me off of some of the €¦ barriers," he said. "The next thing I remember is hearing a third rocket and crawling on my arms back into the tent, because for some reason I thought I'd be safer inside the tent, and it was closer than the bunker."
Once the rockets stopped, one of Hedgcorth's staff noncommissioned officers found him and asked about his injuries. He responded that he was "routine" and that she should find everyone else first."There was a second rocket that kind of bounced me off of some of the €¦ barriers," he said. "The next thing I remember is hearing a third rocket and crawling on my arms back into the tent, because for some reason I thought I'd be safer inside the tent, and it was closer than the bunker."
He stuck to his story when they came checking on him a second time. "Turns out, I was the only one wounded," he said.
That was a Friday night. By the next Thursday, Hedgcorth had been evacuated to Camp Lejeune, N.C., via Baghdad, Balad, and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
"So, I moved faster than the mail," he chuckled. "I wasn't a model patient, so they let me go home before my next surgery on Friday. I'm an old guy, and I don't take well to instruction."
More surgeries repaired the tendon, but the kneecap had been placed too low. "I'm not a doctor, but I do know how a hinge works," Hedgcorth said. "If that hinge pin's not in the right spot, [it won't open right.]" Another surgery in February re-centered his kneecap and moved it up as high as possible.
Hedgcorth joined the Marine Corps 25 years ago because "it was the best," he said.
"It seemed like an easy choice after the Beirut bombing," he said quietly. "I had three friends of mine on that wall." A terrorist bomb killed 241 Marines and Navy corpsmen in a barracks in the Lebanese capital on Oct, 23, 1983.
Hedgcorth's knee injury marked the first time in his career that he'd been injured, and he freely admits that he'd pushed his luck until it happened. He served in Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia, two tours in the Balkans, and two tours in Iraq, and the Purple Heart he received for his injury came with some mixed feelings.
"At first, it was the €˜Enemy Marksmanship Award,'" he said. "It's not something I walk around wearing on my sleeve, [but] it is something I can use to help others."
That's what the chief warrant officer decided to do.
He'd been working at the Marine Corps' logistics operations school at Camp Johnson, N.C., and decided that wasn't for him. Retirement seemed the next logical step until a colonel he'd worked with asked him to work with the Wounded Warrior Battalion he was standing up.
That was about three years ago, and he's been there ever since.
He serves as the battalion's operations officer, tracking more than 600 patients and overseeing patient-outreach teams, among other tasks.
"By the time [the wounded] get to me here at the battalion proper, they're going to go one of two ways. They're going to get out and move on into civilian life, or they're going try to return €¦ to duty," he said. "We don't try to push them either way. We just try to make sure they're prepared [for] whichever way they're going to go."
Hedgcorth still is on active duty, still is a patient, and is assigned to the Wounded Warrior Battalion himself.
"I'm finishing my [medical] boards, and should be medically retired by the end of the year," he said. "Some pretty popular generals have asked me to come back [in retire/retain status], which means I'm €¦ not blocking promotions or anything."
That would keep him in his job for another year or two, he added.
Hedgcorth said the devotion he displays toward his Marines and others, as well as to his job, comes from someplace other than simple obligation.
"It's more of a calling than anything else to work in this job," he said.
Hedgcorth and a friend recently completed the 33rd Marine Corps Marathon as part of a fundraising effort in support of wounded servicemembers. Maneuvering hand cycles through the 26.2 miles, he said, they weren't out to win it, but rather just to support the "next wounded guy."
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Army Pvt. Ryan Masterson, aviation operations specialist with the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, responds to a call from an outlying unit. Masterson tracks the airspace for all the brigade's units so they get supplies and air support when needed. U.S. Army photo[/caption]
"We track the airspace for our brigade's area of operations and get real-time video feeds of what's going on with our airspace," he explained. "It gives us a better idea of where each aircraft is and what they are doing so we can track everything a lot better."
Masterson, who has been in the Army a little more than two years, coordinates air support with troops on the ground via radio and phone systems. He coordinates through a liaison officer to find out what the soldiers on the ground need -- whether it's air support, supplies or reconnaissance flights from unmanned aerial vehicles. "We track the airspace for our brigade's area of operations and get real-time video feeds of what's going on with our airspace," he explained. "It gives us a better idea of where each aircraft is and what they are doing so we can track everything a lot better."
"We make sure that the infantry soldiers have whatever they need as far as air support," he said, whether it's firepower from an Apache attack helicopter or a Chinook helicopter delivery of food or water.
Masterson said he rarely has a free moment while working, but that he finds the job very rewarding. With his limited free time, he said, he likes to watch movies, go to the gym and talk to his family on the Internet.
But when free time is over, Masterson is all business, and he said he feels good about what he does.
"It's good to know that you played a role in winning a battle or helping soldiers by getting them the air support or supplies they needed," he said. "I think it's a good feeling to know that I may have helped some soldiers and possibly save some lives by getting them what they needed as fast as I could."
Masterson plays an important roll in the majority of operations that require air assets -- which, considering Afghanistan's terrain, is almost every operation.
"He is very important to the ADAM Cell and continues to improve on a daily basis," said Army Staff Sgt. Simeon Burns, from Oakland, Calif., Masterson's supervisor. "He's tactically and technically proficient at his job."
Masterson said he wants to pursue a career in law enforcement when his military service is finished, but that for now he's happy to be part of a team that controls the skies over Afghanistan.
(Army Spc. Brandon Sandefur serves with the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)
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Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford goes surfing in Hawaii. He hasn't let his injuries caused by a roadside bomb near Haditha, Iraq, stop him from enjoying many of the activities he participated in before the Jan. 18, 2007, blast. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford[/caption]
The unit's corpsman did all he could medically on the scene, then sent Bradford to a military hospital at Balad. From there, he was sent through Germany's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on his way to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He arrived in Bethesda just three days after his injury and stayed for two months before being moved to the Veterans Affairs facility in Richmond, Va., that specializes in patients with multiple traumas.
From there, it was back to Bethesda to be fitted for a prosthetic eye, then to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for prosthetic legs at the Center for the Intrepid medical center.The unit's corpsman did all he could medically on the scene, then sent Bradford to a military hospital at Balad. From there, he was sent through Germany's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on his way to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He arrived in Bethesda just three days after his injury and stayed for two months before being moved to the Veterans Affairs facility in Richmond, Va., that specializes in patients with multiple traumas.
"I walk perfect," Bradford said of his prosthesis. "I'm used to wearing them for like 12 hours a day now."
Bradford, who enlisted in the Marine Corps right out of high school, is taking computer training at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Chicago. When he finishes there, it's back to San Antonio to start the medical boards that will determine whether he can stay in the Marines.
[caption id="attachment_3102" align="alignleft" width="128"]
Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford, surrounded by fellow Marines, attends the Marine Corps Birthday Ball on Nov. 11, 2007, just 10 months after a roadside bomb blast cost him both legs and his sight. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Bradford[/caption]
Bradford said he knows he won't be able to do every job in the Marine Corps, but he hopes to stay in uniform because he believes he has something to offer.
"I want to be a Marine. I don't want to get out yet," he said. "I'm trying to stay in so I can go back to Bethesda and work at the hospital in the liaison office so I can talk to the wounded."Bradford said he knows he won't be able to do every job in the Marine Corps, but he hopes to stay in uniform because he believes he has something to offer.
The motivation behind this decision came from experiences during his early recovery when another Marine helped him get his mind off his injuries, he said.
"He came to my room a lot -- basically, every day," he said. "Instead of talking about my injuries, we just talked about sports [and] girls."
The conversation was a welcome outlet for the wounded Marine. "At that time, I was going through [thoughts like], €˜I don't want to live right now. I don't have legs or eyes,'" he said.
Now Bradford, a former high school athlete, even shoots hoops every so often. He said he also goes to concerts and bars, and does things any 22-year-old does.
The reactions he occasionally gets when he's out in public bother him, though, he acknowledged. Some thank him, some buy meals for him, and some even apologize for what happened in the course of serving his country.
"I'm like, €˜Don't be. It could've happened to anyone," Bradford said. "[I have] no regrets. I'd go back if I could, but I can't see."
Bradford's injuries earned him a Purple Heart, which Gen. James T. Conway, Marine Corps commandant, presented on Valentine's Day 2007.
"It means a lot," he said of the medal. "I feel grateful to have it, but I'd rather not have it."
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A member of the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces Group received the Meritorious Service Medal here Nov. 1 at halftime of a Utah State University football game in front of thousands of appreciative fans €“ and his teammates.[/caption]
The 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound offensive tackle served for nine months in Afghanistan before coming to Utah State to pursue a master's degree in political science.
He described several parallels between playing football and serving in the military.The 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound offensive tackle served for nine months in Afghanistan before coming to Utah State to pursue a master's degree in political science.
"Communication is huge in the military," he said. "You've got to communicate with other units as you coordinate efforts, just like you have to communicate here as you coordinate on the offensive line."
Both create a feeling of camaraderie, he said, and require precise planning and intensity.
"You should play every play like it's life or death, which is the same as in the military," Green said.
Although he faced some life-threatening situations in Afghanistan -- a suicide bomber attacked his base on his second day in the country -- Green said he mostly was away from direct combat. He served as an analyst, receiving and processing reports from intelligence collectors on the ground and in the sky.
"I would read the reports and try to figure out what each one meant and what was going on," he said. "I'd plot them on a map or on a computer and then look for patterns, similarities or dissimilarities. It was taking all the pieces of the puzzle and putting them together. We had to find where the intelligence gaps were, and then focus efforts to try to find out that information."
Many soldiers become desensitized to the danger surrounding them, Green said. He compared the experience of leaving the base to driving on the freeway.
"The freeway is very fast-paced, with a lot of moving things," Green said. "It's very dangerous, but you have control with your steering wheel, so you feel like you mitigate the risk. It's the same thing as going €˜outside the wire.' You have controls with your helicopters [and] other units, and you have your gun with you. You're focused on the mission at hand, so you ignore some of the dangers.
"But there are times when you'll feel it," he continued, "just like when you see a car accident and you hear on the news that someone died. Sometimes it will be closer to you; you'll be in the car accident, and the person next to you will die. That's kind of how I correlate it."
Green's time in Afghanistan made him more grateful for simple things such as paved roads, flushing toilets and comfortable beds. "I also got a real good appreciation for white bread and soft Wonder Bread," he said.
Despite the sacrifices, "serving in the military was worth it, just like playing football is worth it," he said.
And football apparently is worth it, whether he plays or not. Although Green has not yet played in a USU game, he fills an important role on the team as a scout player. He prepares the defense for the games by studying and then running the opposing team's plays during practice.
Green has dressed for several games over the past few years, thus fulfilling his childhood dream of running through the tunnel onto the field. Last fall's season opener, especially, made an impact on him.
"It was indescribable," he recalled. "The game brought a pretty big crowd. When you practice in the stadium, you don't realize how big it is. But when you go out in a game and you see all the people out there, you're like 'Wow.' It's a whole different experience."
Whether or not he gets the opportunity to run through the tunnel again this season, Green said, he believes he has had a fulfilling experience.
"I love the game," he said. "It's pretty cool to come out every day and put on the helmet and play when I'm almost 25 years old. It gives me something to do so I don't get in trouble." He said he also appreciates the "instant friendships" he made at the new school.
In addition to the friendships he's made, Green said playing for the Aggies has helped with his leadership, something that hasn't gone unnoticed by USU head coach Brent Guy.
"It's a unique situation to have a player who has served his country," Guy said. "Mike brings a different maturity that you normally don't have, and with that comes added leadership. It is a different experience for some of our younger players to be playing with a military veteran, especially with the theater of serving in Afghanistan."
Green, a pilot, is now nearly finished with his master's degree. His thesis focuses on government regulation, specifically the Federal Aviation Administration.
Green's next stop will be law school. He is applying to a variety of schools all over the country, but said he would like to stay in Utah, and that he someday may want to run for public office.
(Ashley Schiller works in the Utah State University Athletic Media Relations Office.)
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Army 1st Sgt. Willoughby Mercer of Aberdeen, Md., is the Camp Victory sheriff and noncommissioned officer in charge of the mayor cell on Camp Victory, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret[/caption]
"Everybody wants you when you're the man out there that can get things done," said Mercer, a native of Philadelphia. "My position facilitates a lot of the open doors for things to happen, to where €¦ [the mayor cell can] run just like a city hall. In our cell, we have every branch that deals with just about everything in this area."
The mayor cell oversees public works, maintenance, security and more. It operates around the clock, and it enables the camp to do the same."Everybody wants you when you're the man out there that can get things done," said Mercer, a native of Philadelphia. "My position facilitates a lot of the open doors for things to happen, to where €¦ [the mayor cell can] run just like a city hall. In our cell, we have every branch that deals with just about everything in this area."
"We are the central nervous system to what's going on on a daily basis, and to me what's so gratifying is €¦ when I'm able to resolve an issue €¦ to where there's a level of satisfaction," Mercer said.
As the camp sheriff, Mercer taps into all kinds of issues to maintain good life on the base: from parking matters and living conditions to traffic violations and force protection. He also enforces safety regulations, camp policies and spreading of information. He also helps with Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs and activities. In fact, as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Mercer teaches classes to soldiers interested in learning the martial art.
His job in Iraq keeps him busy, but it isn't a position he finds overwhelming, Mercer said.
"Serving in this capacity is not anything new to me," he said. "Being [a military policeman] for 26 years, I've dealt with clientele from all ranks, all branches [and] different organizations," said Mercer, who now lives in Aberdeen, Md.
For the past 10 years, Mercer has served as a first sergeant in the Army Reserve. Ever since joining the Reserve, Mercer also has worked as a police officer in the civilian world. Just before deploying, he worked as a detective in Baltimore for the Maryland state attorney's office.
"Taking those attributes from that job and applying them over here after the years of service I've been an MP, it has helped tremendously," he said, "because I have more of an open demeanor in dealing with people. Some people don't, and they get €˜short' real quick. €¦ I see myself being able to talk to anyone and anybody about anything."
Luckily, Mercer said, his position as sheriff has been more like that of a firefighter than that of a law enforcer.
"You do put out those little fires before they become big fires, or you help facilitate them staying little," he said.
Such fires are not the ones that can occur in soldiers' housing units €“ those he intends on preventing altogether, he said €“ but rather, he tries to put out complaints by soldiers so they don't become bigger issues: neighbors being too loud, soldiers taking long showers that cause the hot water to run out, people parking in spots that block traffic. The list can go on and on, he said.
But although the chore of quelling problems can be tedious, Mercer said, he finds satisfaction in the work.
"I take it to heart," he said. "I understand the responsibility behind it."
He also understands he cannot do it all on his own.
"I don't do it myself. I'm only as good as the people that are here, and because they put forth the extra effort and I support them in everything they do here," he said of a group he barely knew before his deployment.
Mercer originally was supposed to deploy with another MP company, he explained, but since the unit they were filling already had a first sergeant and commander, he didn't go. Instead, he was told he had been selected for a sergeant major position to deploy with the 2145th Garrison Support Unit out of Nashville, Tenn. Roughly 80 percent of the unit's members had been cross-leveled to fill specific positions, he said, but he added he immediately felt comfortable with them.
"What was so surprising about that -- after talking and congregating and getting to know one another and talk about your history and background -- I realized that there [were] no egos. People didn't jump out and say, €˜Oh, I'm all this, all that.' We just started to jell together as the group."
Now this very group handles the issues of everyday life of a camp with the population of a small town. And it's doing it well, Mercer said, adding that his crew could walk into any city and get the job done there.
"I think we've done a hell of a job," he said. "We're going to continue doing it until the day we leave out of here. Hopefully, we leave a good footprint for our successors, to say, €˜We started the ball rolling. It's your turn.'"
(Army Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret serves in the Multinational Division Center Public Affairs Office.)
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Marine Midshipman 1st Class Lauren Reisinger stands in dress uniform during a visit to her home in Marin County, Calif., June, 29, 2008. Reisinger is on a leave of absence while she attends the University of Jordan on a Defense Department scholarship to study the Arabic culture and language. She is holding a Mameluke sword with her name engraved on it, which she received in connection with the Professor of Military Science Award, the highest honor given to one midshipman each year. Courtesy photo[/caption]
She also couldn't have predicted where she would be now: spending a year abroad at the University of Jordan to pursue Middle Eastern studies and Arabic, thanks to a Defense Department scholarship for tuition.
But that's the future that lay ahead in 2004 when Reisinger applied for a full ROTC scholarship at Drexel University and selected the Marines €“ not knowing exactly why.
"I chose to check the €˜USMC' box simply because something in my heart told me I should," she said. "That simple choice has made an immense impact on the rest of my life."But that's the future that lay ahead in 2004 when Reisinger applied for a full ROTC scholarship at Drexel University and selected the Marines €“ not knowing exactly why.
Now 22, Reisinger is close to completing these phases of her academic and military training. In May, she will receive a degree from Drexel in international studies with minors in Arabic and world politics. In June, she will earn her commission and be sworn in as a second lieutenant.
From there, she sees a career with the Marines €“ or one that could go in a variety of directions, depending on what drives her at the moment.
"For years, I have dreamt of being the secretary of state, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a senator, a foreign ambassador or even in my wildest dreams I have imagined myself as president," she said.
A 'Black Sheep's' Background
While the military seems like a perfect fit for Reisinger, she had to forge it by herself, leaving the comfort zone of her life in Marin County, a northern California area she describes as "extremely sheltered, wealthy and liberal" and that local people refer to as the "Marin bubble."
"Within my family, I am somewhat of a €˜black sheep,'" she said. "Of the four children, I am the only one to join the military, go to college outside of Northern California, not be a die-hard, very left-wing liberal, live in the Middle East and want to pursue a political career. My siblings support what I do, although they don't understand where I get my drive from and don't identify with my choices."
In fact, most people tried to talk her out of it, she said.
No chance of that for a person as focused and self-aware as Reisinger, going back to when she saw those pictures of midshipmen crawling through the mud as a high school sophomore. Shortly after, she set out to sink her own feet into military life by applying for a summer seminar at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., before her senior year €“ and got it.
"I felt like I was in my element for the first time," she said. "The military atmosphere made me come alive, and I just knew that I was destined to be an officer."
Reisinger did so well that summer she received congressional nominations to both the Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. She also filled out an ROTC application, saying she didn't really know what it was €“ only that "it was something military."
When it came time to make decisions, she said, she relied on a gut feeling. She chose Marine Corps ROTC over Naval Academy Prep School and launched her academic and military life on the campus of Drexel University in Philadelphia.
As a freshman, she decided to concentrate on the Middle East and take Arabic, thinking she could use her language skills in the Marine Corps and later at the State Department or CIA.
"I became completely intrigued with not only the language, but the culture, religion and history of the Middle East as well," said Reisinger, who arrived in the military with considerable cultural exposure. To date she's traveled to 27 countries, and every continent except Antarctica.
Proving 'Them' Wrong
Then there was the ROTC challenge €“ one she wasn't always sure she could hack.
"When I began ROTC, I was probably one of the worst in my class," she said. "I obviously knew the least about the military, [and] wasn't accustomed to the rigorous physical training or demanding military lifestyle. €¦ It didn't help that I was the only female Marine in my freshman class. Many of my upperclassmen thought I wouldn't make it through [that year], but I was determined to prove them wrong."
The hardest moment came the second weekend during a field exercise to Fort Dix, N.J., that started with a five-mile "hump," or speed walk €“ something she had never done. She carried a 40-pound pack and wore boots two sizes too large because there weren't any that fit her.
It was unmitigated misery from the beginning, she recalled, and she fell behind.
"I remember my back aching under the weight and pressure of the pack," she said. "My legs ached from the unusually wide strides. My arms were going numb, because the weight of the straps on my shoulders was so heavy it cut off blood flow. But the worst of all, my feet were rubbed raw from the new, oversized boots."
Following in a van was a gunnery sergeant she described as the "scariest force" she had ever experienced, even though she knew it was his job to toughen her up.
"I remember him yelling at me: €˜Hey, Blondie! What's someone like you doing in my Marine Corps?'"
He ordered her to catch up. When the "hump" ended, it was only 9 a.m., with the rest of the day ahead of her.
"I felt as though I might die," she said. But she stuck with the exercise until it was over, when she collapsed into bed, unable to move for a full day. "After that," she said, "I made it my mission to get into shape."
And she did €“ with help from the same gunnery sergeant who had terrified her. She worked out in the gym for up to two hours a day on top of regular training €“ and it paid off with high fitness scores and awards.
Rising to the Top
She applied that same focus to all her ROTC activities to prove herself and pull ahead.
"I never once slept in, always showed up with my uniform perfectly ironed, volunteered for everything, attended all extra optional evolutions and was easily the best in my class when it came to memorizing the military knowledge," she said. "It took several months for all of these traits to show through, but once they did, I could tell that other midshipmen began to respect me and realize that I was a dedicated, committed, strong-willed person who was not going to accept failure."
Reisinger also used her summers to absorb military experiences to make her more knowledgeable about the big picture. She spent a week on a destroyer ship, a week on a nuclear submarine, a week in aviation and a week in infantry training. She also attended Mountain Warfare School and Officer Candidate School.
As respect for her grew, she was chosen as the battalion commander, making her the highest-ranking midshipman. With that came the freedom to pick the brains of officers about leadership and to attend officer staff meetings.
"My passion for leadership began at a young age when I was always selected as team captain, was editor of the yearbook and was a class officer all four years of high school," she said. "The military has taken that passion and given me a set of skills to develop my natural ability to lead."
After four years, the once "weakest link" graduated at the top of her ROTC unit. For that, she earned the Professor of Military Science Award, which comes with a Mameluke sword with her name engraved on it. She also received national recognition, including the Dr. Sidney Ross Young American Award, the Military Officers Association of America Award and the National Defense Industrial Association's ROTC award.
Arabic Immersion
Back on the academic side, Reisinger said, she wanted to commit herself to learning the Arabic language and believed she needed to immerse herself in Arabic culture. She proposed a fifth year of study at the University of Jordan €“ and it was approved, along with a $49,205 scholarship from the Defense Department for tuition. She's been there since late July and lives on a short leash with a family that monitors her friends, wardrobe and actions.
Despite the restrictions she feels as a woman, she said, she values the cultural and political exchanges she has had with Arabs. "I absolutely love representing the USA and feel like I have [had] a positive influence," she said.
She added that she also hopes to have a positive influence on the world stage after she leaves Jordan €“ first as a Marine Corps officer and later as a politician. She knows exactly where to place the credit for her successes.
"After my parents, the Marine Corps has had the most influence on my life," she said. "The military makes me a stronger, sharper, harder and even more driven person than I would be otherwise."
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