thedrifter
09-05-04, 12:21 PM
Cherry Point Motor-T Marine receives Purple Heart
Submitted by: MCAS Cherry Point
Story Identification #: 20049315468
Story by Pfc. James D. Hamel
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. (Sept. 3, 2004) -- When Cpl. Adam Youngman, with Marine Air Support Squadron 1 heard he was being deployed to Iraq, he was excited.
"I was stoked," he said. "You want to go over there and do your part."
Working as a Motor Transport Operator in Camp Blue Diamond, Ramadi, Iraq, Youngman drove 7-ton trucks, Humvees and served on a Quick Reaction Force, a security team designed to respond to threats quickly.
On the average work day, Youngman would wake at 6 a.m. and begin the day fixing trucks and maintaining equipment.
Because the Marines in Blue Diamond had limited access to new equipment, Youngman said gear maintenance was of top priority.
Youngman, who had been in Iraq several months, said that it was easy to forget where you were.
"This happened May 13, you get real complacent. You hear [the mortars] going off and you're like 'it's not going to hit me,'" he said.
Youngman was wrong.
The night that Youngman was wounded was the third night in a series of three mortar attacks on Camp Blue Diamond. The first two nights the insurgents had barely missed their targets.
"The first night they had shot over us into an open range, where we shot pistols. The second night they shot into the motor pool," he remembered.
"The third night, they hit us," he said.
That night, Youngman said three mortars were fired into the camp. As Youngman and another Marine from MASS-1, Cpl. Eric Abruzesy left their berthing area early in the evening; they heard a mortar impact near them.
He said the proximity of the mortar startled them both, but that neither had time to react. Almost instantly, the second mortar impacted directly in front of them, knocking them both on their feet.
With the adrenaline flowing, Youngman didn't even know he was wounded. When he went back to his berthing area, another Marine informed him of blood coming from a wound on his neck.
After feeling around for more wounds, he realized he had also been hit on his back and legs.
Youngman was sent to a hospital, where he spent four days being treated because of the wounds, but true to Marine form, returned to duty immediately afterwards. Even today he is deaf because of that day.
Because of wounds sustained from the enemy, Youngman was awarded two Purple Hearts, one given personally by the Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Gordon R. England.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200493155132/$file/fixed-copylowres.jpg
The Purple Heart, given for wounds caused by the enemy, was twice awarded to Cpl. Adam Youngman. (Photo Illustration) Photo by: Lance Cpl. Sarah M. Hickey
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20049316379/$file/pheart2lowres.jpg
The Honorable Gordon R. England, Secretary of the Navy, and Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Moore, Jr., commanding general of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, stand with Cpl. Adam Youngman and his family shortly after he was awarded his second Purple Heart. Photo by: Pfc. James D. Hamel
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/7F017169AC0511D585256F04006C9822?opendocument
Ellie
Submitted by: MCAS Cherry Point
Story Identification #: 20049315468
Story by Pfc. James D. Hamel
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. (Sept. 3, 2004) -- When Cpl. Adam Youngman, with Marine Air Support Squadron 1 heard he was being deployed to Iraq, he was excited.
"I was stoked," he said. "You want to go over there and do your part."
Working as a Motor Transport Operator in Camp Blue Diamond, Ramadi, Iraq, Youngman drove 7-ton trucks, Humvees and served on a Quick Reaction Force, a security team designed to respond to threats quickly.
On the average work day, Youngman would wake at 6 a.m. and begin the day fixing trucks and maintaining equipment.
Because the Marines in Blue Diamond had limited access to new equipment, Youngman said gear maintenance was of top priority.
Youngman, who had been in Iraq several months, said that it was easy to forget where you were.
"This happened May 13, you get real complacent. You hear [the mortars] going off and you're like 'it's not going to hit me,'" he said.
Youngman was wrong.
The night that Youngman was wounded was the third night in a series of three mortar attacks on Camp Blue Diamond. The first two nights the insurgents had barely missed their targets.
"The first night they had shot over us into an open range, where we shot pistols. The second night they shot into the motor pool," he remembered.
"The third night, they hit us," he said.
That night, Youngman said three mortars were fired into the camp. As Youngman and another Marine from MASS-1, Cpl. Eric Abruzesy left their berthing area early in the evening; they heard a mortar impact near them.
He said the proximity of the mortar startled them both, but that neither had time to react. Almost instantly, the second mortar impacted directly in front of them, knocking them both on their feet.
With the adrenaline flowing, Youngman didn't even know he was wounded. When he went back to his berthing area, another Marine informed him of blood coming from a wound on his neck.
After feeling around for more wounds, he realized he had also been hit on his back and legs.
Youngman was sent to a hospital, where he spent four days being treated because of the wounds, but true to Marine form, returned to duty immediately afterwards. Even today he is deaf because of that day.
Because of wounds sustained from the enemy, Youngman was awarded two Purple Hearts, one given personally by the Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Gordon R. England.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200493155132/$file/fixed-copylowres.jpg
The Purple Heart, given for wounds caused by the enemy, was twice awarded to Cpl. Adam Youngman. (Photo Illustration) Photo by: Lance Cpl. Sarah M. Hickey
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20049316379/$file/pheart2lowres.jpg
The Honorable Gordon R. England, Secretary of the Navy, and Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Moore, Jr., commanding general of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, stand with Cpl. Adam Youngman and his family shortly after he was awarded his second Purple Heart. Photo by: Pfc. James D. Hamel
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/7F017169AC0511D585256F04006C9822?opendocument
Ellie