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View Full Version : Corpsman rewarded for saving two Marines' lives



thedrifter
12-15-06, 08:08 AM
MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif.(Dec. 14, 2006) -- During his deployment to Iraq, Hospitalman Robert Clark, primary care, branch medical clinic, was put in a situation he trained for, but never wanted to see.

Following an improvised explosive device explosion, Clark was called on to save the lives of the Marines he came to know really well; he calls them his brothers.

On Jan. 19, Clark was deployed to Camp Fallujah in Al Kharma, Iraq.

“I trained with the Marines for a while. Everything they did, I did,” said Clark.

On June 20, Clark and the Marines he was assigned with went out on patrol at 4 a.m. The patrol consisted of five vehicles, Clark being in the fourth and was only intended to last until 11 a.m.

The patrol was to be a short one, two checkpoints and back home.

After completing the first checkpoint, they went on to the second. To get there they had to drive on a dirt road, cross a bridge and continue on to the second check point.

After they crossed the bridge, Clark noticed the fifth vehicle was not behind them.

The corpsman and the Marines heard the explosion, but hoped it had not hit anyone.

“Hey Matt, do you see the last truck,” Clark asked, “No doc.”

Clark then called the last truck and did not get a response.

At that point they knew what had happened, the truck had been hit. Clark immediately jumped out of the vehicle and sprinted back to the last Hummer. There he saw what was left.

“It did not look like a humvee at all,” he said.

The IED was in the middle of the street, hidden beneath the dirt. When the final truck passed over, it was remotely detonated and flipped the truck a couple of times before it finally came to a stop, said Clark.

When he arrived at the truck, the corpsman immediately went from Marine to Marine providing medical aid to each of them.

There were a total of five Marines, Clark said. Of those five, Clark saved two of their lives, two were killed instantly, and the fifth one died shortly after.

Even though Clark was the only corpsman present, he was not alone in saving the lives of the Marines.

“It was my Marines that helped me that day, especially my corporal,” Clark said. “He did not have to help me, he could have set up security with the rest of the Marines, but instead he helped me.”

Not only did Clark provide aid to every Marine but he also set up a casualty collection point, designated a landing zone for the helicopters that evacuated the Marines in critical condition and gave a thorough brief to the air medical crew on the status of each Marine which led to a quick evacuation.

Following the treatment and evacuation of the Marines, a quick reaction force arrived and collected the bodies of the fallen Marines as well as a explosive ordinance disposal team to check for any other IED’s.

The mounted combat patrol finally arrived back on base around 1 p.m., said Clark, nine hours after it began.

“When we got back on base I had to go get new boots and a flak jacket,” he said. “My flak jacket was shredded by the wreckage and my boots were covered in blood.” Six hours after returning to base, it was time for another mission.

On July 2, there was a memorial service held for the fallen Marines, or as Clark refers to them as, his brothers.

After returning to the United States Aug. 16, he carried with him an experience that he will never forget.

“It makes me proud to serve with him, what he did over in Iraq,” said Hospital Corpsman Chief Joe Gallardo, senior enlisted leader, branch medical clinic.

When he attended the Marine Corps Ball with the unit he deployed to Iraq with on Nov. 3, he was informed that he was going to be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with valor for, as his citation reads, “heroic achievement in the superior performance of his duties.”

“Everyday I think about what happened, that could have very easily been me,” he said.

Ellie