A friend with whom I once served, Sgt. 1st Class Mike Preston, told me about an Army medic and hero named Staff Sgt. Christopher Martin. I had the honor of speaking with Martin about one of their recent missions.
The Islamic State and similarly evil groups must be resisted. To that end, Preston, Martin, and their small Army team were sent to a nation in Africa to help locals improve their own situation and better resist the violent extremist organizations that have been infiltrating the country and victimizing its people. (Martin told his story on condition that I not reveal the name of the country.)
Not long after flying out to a small, mudbrick farming village and meeting with leaders there, the Americans got word that 10 African soldiers had been attacked at a checkpoint 12 miles away. Two were killed by .50-caliber rounds. Two had minor cuts and bruises and would be fine. Six had been seriously injured by AK-47 rounds. The Africans’ plan was to cart the six wounded men 128 miles to the nearest hospital in the back of a Toyota Hilux pickup.
“That’s not gonna do, man,” said Martin. The wounded would never survive such a long trip without treatment. The Africans accepted the Americans’ offer to help, and our boys went to work. Martin asked them to bring the three most wounded men first.
The first casualty had been shot in the head. “He’s dead,” said an American soldier. But he wasn’t. Martin asked the man to squeeze his finger, and he did. He was tough. Martin decided he was going to live. The man’s skull was intact — it had only been a flesh wound. Martin stopped the bleeding and asked to see the next casualty. The second man had two wounds. Martin stopped the bleeding and issued pain medication, asking Preston, who had been providing security, to also watch him. The third man had been shot several times and suffered from a chest wound. He screamed in pain. The left side of his chest wasn’t rising when breathing. Martin relieved the pressure so the man could breathe.
With the three worst-off stabilized, Martin judged that the other three were well enough to wait for an inbound helicopter that would take them to the country’s single modern hospital. His team then ripped the seats out of their small plane and loaded the first three men, providing them with more treatment as they rushed to the hospital. Martin stopped their bleeding, kept their wounds clean, and issued them antibiotics and pain medication. The African with the chest wound was bleeding so much that his lung was close to collapsing. The Americans had to drain blood to save him. Later, he required a blood transfusion from an American soldier.
About an hour later, the plane landed. The medics on the scene were shocked as they opened the door and blood poured out. The hospital was in the midst of a civil service strike and had only one doctor and one nurse on duty. Martin handed over the casualties, explaining in the local language what treatments each man had received. The hospital staff treated the least critically wounded first, so the man with the chest wound, though he’d been stabilized enough to live if he had been provided with prompt further treatment, died waiting for the doctor. The five others survived.
“I was furious when I found out,” Martin said.
Preston, having served in Afghanistan, was no stranger to disappointment on missions. “You have to focus on the good you did today,” he told Chris.
The country’s president expressed his gratitude in a speech, saying that the blood of American soldiers flowed through the veins of their warriors.
In that murky, gray area that exists between war and peace, Martin and his teammates did their best to save the lives of African soldiers, building partnerships against extremist militias. We need this cooperation to beat these evil groups. I pray for our success.
Trent Reedy served as a combat engineer in the Iowa National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
