Shaffer
04-09-03, 07:18 AM
Navy corpsman injured during battles, but heads back to front line
Editor's note: The last name of the family and Naval corpsman in the story has been changed at the wife's request, in order to protect their personal security in a wartime situation.
BARSTOW - When coalition forces began the ground war in Iraq in earnest on March 21, much of the media attention focused on the taking of Iraq's port city of Umm Qasr and the six Marines who were the first U.S. casualties.
Amid the overwhelming number of reports from the field, it may have been easy to miss Petty Officer 1st Class David A. Jones, a Navy hospital corpsman based at the Marine Corps Logistics Base, who has been deployed to the front lines in Iraq.
Jones, along with 10 other corpsmen from MCLB, is part of the military's group of "Devil Docs." These medical personnel work on the battlefield, tending to the wounded - whether they're Marines from the unit to which they're attached or Iraqis who are in need of help.
During those opening battles, however, Jones ended up on the other side of the treatment; he was injured by shrapnel and pulled from the front lines.
But the injury didn't sideline Jones for long. His wife, Kimberly, said Jones' injuries have been treated and he's back in combat.
"He called me on Sunday (March 30) to tell me he's OK, and he's being sent back to the front," Kimberly said.
The phone call was a rare opportunity for Kimberly to talk with her husband. Communication has been very limited between troops on the front lines and families back home since the war began.
"I definitely feel comforted because I knew he was in a safe place," Kimberly said.
She said that Jones couldn't provide many details about his situation because of security concerns and phone monitoring. But she was able to pass along messages on behalf of the other families on the base who have loved ones providing medical services to the troops.
"All of (the families) are pretty close-knit," Kimberly said. "We keep in contact almost daily. A lot of wives are young, and this is their first time experiencing this."
The Joneses, though, do have some experience under their belts. David, 33, has been in the Navy for 14 years. He served on the front line as a corpsman during Desert Storm in 1990, earning a Combat Action Ribbon. He also assisted with U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Croatia in 1994.
Kimberly said observing the conflict is more stressful this time around - not just because of the increased media coverage, but because of her own circumstances.
"The first time he was out there, I was 19," Kimberly said. "I didn't think anything would happen to him. Now I'm older and have two kids."
In addition, thanks to embedded reporting, Kimberly said she can see the conflict raging in the area where Jones is working.
"I talk (my fears) out with friends and family," she said. "They experience the same fears that I have."
Kimberly, 32, said her sons, Dalton, 11, and Darron, 7, weren't allowed to watch the war on the news, which she thought was too graphic and too revealing when combat first began.
"In the beginning, I thought it was horrible, but it has been cleaned up," she said.
Despite the risks her husband is facing, Kimberly said she supports Saddam Hussein's ouster.
"We're fighting for their freedom," she said. "It's a sick society that is being run over there. If the tables were turned, we'd want someone to come help us."
Editor's note: The last name of the family and Naval corpsman in the story has been changed at the wife's request, in order to protect their personal security in a wartime situation.
BARSTOW - When coalition forces began the ground war in Iraq in earnest on March 21, much of the media attention focused on the taking of Iraq's port city of Umm Qasr and the six Marines who were the first U.S. casualties.
Amid the overwhelming number of reports from the field, it may have been easy to miss Petty Officer 1st Class David A. Jones, a Navy hospital corpsman based at the Marine Corps Logistics Base, who has been deployed to the front lines in Iraq.
Jones, along with 10 other corpsmen from MCLB, is part of the military's group of "Devil Docs." These medical personnel work on the battlefield, tending to the wounded - whether they're Marines from the unit to which they're attached or Iraqis who are in need of help.
During those opening battles, however, Jones ended up on the other side of the treatment; he was injured by shrapnel and pulled from the front lines.
But the injury didn't sideline Jones for long. His wife, Kimberly, said Jones' injuries have been treated and he's back in combat.
"He called me on Sunday (March 30) to tell me he's OK, and he's being sent back to the front," Kimberly said.
The phone call was a rare opportunity for Kimberly to talk with her husband. Communication has been very limited between troops on the front lines and families back home since the war began.
"I definitely feel comforted because I knew he was in a safe place," Kimberly said.
She said that Jones couldn't provide many details about his situation because of security concerns and phone monitoring. But she was able to pass along messages on behalf of the other families on the base who have loved ones providing medical services to the troops.
"All of (the families) are pretty close-knit," Kimberly said. "We keep in contact almost daily. A lot of wives are young, and this is their first time experiencing this."
The Joneses, though, do have some experience under their belts. David, 33, has been in the Navy for 14 years. He served on the front line as a corpsman during Desert Storm in 1990, earning a Combat Action Ribbon. He also assisted with U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Croatia in 1994.
Kimberly said observing the conflict is more stressful this time around - not just because of the increased media coverage, but because of her own circumstances.
"The first time he was out there, I was 19," Kimberly said. "I didn't think anything would happen to him. Now I'm older and have two kids."
In addition, thanks to embedded reporting, Kimberly said she can see the conflict raging in the area where Jones is working.
"I talk (my fears) out with friends and family," she said. "They experience the same fears that I have."
Kimberly, 32, said her sons, Dalton, 11, and Darron, 7, weren't allowed to watch the war on the news, which she thought was too graphic and too revealing when combat first began.
"In the beginning, I thought it was horrible, but it has been cleaned up," she said.
Despite the risks her husband is facing, Kimberly said she supports Saddam Hussein's ouster.
"We're fighting for their freedom," she said. "It's a sick society that is being run over there. If the tables were turned, we'd want someone to come help us."