Purple Heart recipient: training the best way to prepare for war

Story and photo by Spc. Armando Monroig/The Signal

FORT GORDON, Ga. (TRADOC News Service, April 29, 2005) – Many Soldiers have never experienced first-hand the horrors of war, and despite the best of training, may never know how they would react under fire.

But training for war is the best way to prepare for what you may face, said Staff Sgt. Jason Smith, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., who has first-hand experience in Iraq.

The Hermitage, Tenn., native deployed to Iraq Jan. 6 and was in Kuwait until Jan. 27, when he and his crew headed out to Iraq.

Smith was injured patrolling in a humvee that was struck by an improvised explosive device.

The 35-year-old, sitting in a wheelchair at the Veterans Administration hospital with stitches and staples in his left leg, recounted the day he and his fellow Soldiers were injured.

“When the blast first hit and the dust and debris settled to where I could see what was going on,” the Army-trained 91W (combat medic) said, “my initial reaction was medic first: take care of my Soldiers, take care of my Soldiers, make sure they survive, worry about me later.”

Despite being thrown into an incident that may have broken the spirit of other men, Smith – now a 19K (armor crewman) tank commander – took control of the situation and took action.

Smith’s platoon was conducting a patrol below the city of Tikrit and above the city of Samarra in Iraq. They would conduct their shift from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. daily. They randomly patrolled the northern and southern bypass driving up and down the main supply route.

It was about 1:35 p.m. and they were heading north, nearly done for the day, entering the southern part of the bypass. There was an on-ramp going onto a bridge. It was about 1:50 p.m.

An explosion on the left side of their humvee hurled shrapnel through the left side of the vehicle. One piece of the shrapnel entered the driver’s door, severing the driver’s left leg at the knee.

The shrapnel went through the driver’s right leg and the humvee’s transmission, and entered Smith’s left leg and ended up in the skin of his right leg. It broke Smith’s femur in three pieces two to three inches above the knee.

“At this time, after the blast went off, the humvee was still rolling,” said Smith.

As the vehicle was moving, it was apparent to Smith that if it kept going on its current course, it would roll over.

“I told my driver to stop the humvee. At this time I didn’t realize he had sustained so much damage to his legs that he couldn’t push the brakes forward to stop the vehicle,” said Smith. “So I reached over and put the vehicle into the neutral position to keep from flipping in reverse and slamming into the front windshield.”

At the bottom of the ramp, there was a clearing Smith had previously picked out for a medevac, putting his prior training as a combat medic to good use.

“I turned the humvee to the left and drove it straight down the off-ramp and into some bushes,” said Smith.

Smith said he attributes his quick reaction to all the training he had received up to that point and all the hard work he had put into that training.

At this time his platoon sergeant came to check the status of his crew. Smith yelled out that he needed an air medevac and three tourniquets for himself and his crew.

After getting a new one-handed tourniquet, he applied it to his leg, then got back into the vehicle and began to assess his Soldiers’ conditions to see what he could do for them.

At the time the platoon’s medic had already gotten to the vehicle and was taking care of the driver. Two other Soldiers came to the aid of the gunner. Smith assisted the medic aiding his driver.

A second piece of shrapnel had penetrated the left rear door, striking the gunner in the right leg. Shrapnel also flew above the humvee, hitting the gunner in the right elbow, cutting his arm off at the elbow.

After helping the medic with his driver, Smith turned around to attend to his gunner. He noticed he was laying facedown on his left side, and that his arm was over his back facing an awkward position.

“I reached down and grabbed a one-hand Israeli pressure bandage, gave it to McNalty (the medic) and told him to wrap it around his arm, and just directed traffic for applying tourniquets for him as needed,” said Smith.

He said that at this time he was fading in and out of consciousness and only remembers bits and pieces. He remembers vaguely his sergeant major talking to him.

Smith remembers being dragged out of the vehicle by one of his comrades, who took him to a secure point outside the vehicle. The medevac arrived about 10 minutes after the blast.

The injured were taken to a support hospital in Ballad, where they received initial treatment and surgery.

The following day they were flown from Ballad to Landstuhl, Germany, where Smith stayed three days for initial cleaning of the wounds. In Germany, Smith had the chance to talk with his crewmembers and see how they were doing.

“I just wanted to see if they were OK and how they were doing morally, mentally and physically,” said Smith. “They seemed to be doing very well.”

From Germany the injured were flown to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., where they were split up. His driver and gunner were sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for treatment.

Smith was sent to Fort Gordon for orthopedic surgery at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, and then to the VA in Augusta, Ga., where he is undergoing physical therapy for his injured knee and leg. He goes to rehabilitation twice a day for two one-hour sessions, six days a week.

“So far my leg is healing up well. It’s been a blessing,” said Smith.

Early on April 22, Smith – along with two other recipients – was awarded the Purple Heart from Brig. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, EAMC commander.

“It meant a lot to me to get recognized for the service we had given and for our fight for the (Global) War on Terrorism,” said Smith. “It was a great experience to go through that ceremony.”

Despite the tough times and this incident, Smith said he has no regrets about going back to active duty in the Army.

“I don’t regret it one bit and would love to still be in the service,” said Smith, who has to wait and see how his injuries heal to see if he can stay in the service or not.

“I would really like to stay in and finish out my career in the military,” he said.

Smith said he has learned from the situation.

He said that with the current situation the Army finds itself in Iraq, it doesn’t matter what your military-occupation specialty is – you are infantry first and your MOS last.

“You have to adapt and overcome. You have to have the mental and motivational power to keep moving no matter how demanding it is – you’ve got to keep going,” said Smith, who has completed Ranger school.

And it is this tenacious mentality that helped get him and his comrades through the chaotic experience in Iraq.

“You can’t give up. It’s always 110 percent and then some,” said Smith.

When asked if he would do it all over again, enlist and go back to Iraq, Smith doesn’t hesitate for a second to respond.

“Whatever it is my president, unit or commander needs, I’m all for it,” said Smith.

He said he has kept tabs on his injured battle-buddies and despite their injuries, he said they are in good spirits being aided by family, friends and loved ones.

“They are remarkable Soldiers,” Smith said of his crew. “They are just great Soldiers all the way around.”

Now the next step for Smith is to work hard at rehabilitating his injured leg, and then he most likely will be sent to a medical review board.

“It’s a big process of ‘wait and see’ and I'll leave it in the hands of God and to the people who are looking out for my best interest,” said Smith.

“I look at this wound and it is minor compared to what my Soldiers have,” he said. “I’m still here, in one piece, highly motivated and (my) morale’s great. God has taken care of me.”

Smith admits, though, that he is nervous about going back to Iraq.

“It is very nerve-wracking,” he said of being in Iraq. “You don’t know when, where and how these insurgents have set up some sort of explosive device to take you out – it’s like fighting ghosts.”

He said his experience has taught him not to take anything for granted, to always keep his eyes open, to never get relaxed, to take life as it comes and live every day of life as best he can.

“The next day isn’t promised,” said Smith.

Smith pointed out a few keys to survival in Iraq.

“You’ve got to trust your training. You’ve got to trust the guy to your left and your right,” said Smith, adding that you must continue the mission regardless of the situation.

He said being with his battle buddies is like being with family. And that esprit de corps is what helped ease any fears he may have about being in a similar situation again.

Smith said that while he was in Iraq, he was in one of the worst cities there.

“Every day, we were face to face with the insurgents. I’ve come to see the families of the Iraqi people, and no matter how much fear has been instilled in their lives, when they were in a position where they knew they couldn’t be seen by the enemy, they would raise a hand to wave at you, put their babies in the air to show you that what you’re doing is really appreciated,” said Smith.

He said that seeing that also made a difficult mission easier for him. He added that too often the media shows the bad parts and hardly any of the good.

“People are trying to portray us as being the bad guys when we’re actually the good guys,” said Smith.

Smith joined the Army for the second time in March 2004. The first time he was in was June 1988 to March 1995. He left the Army to go back to college and get his degree, but he missed the military and being a Soldier, so he re-enlisted.

This was not the first time Smith had a close call with an IED. His platoon encountered one Feb. 23, but it happened while they were in their tank and they did not sustain injuries.

Staff Sgt. Jason Smith, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga., gets some staples removed from his injured left leg by physician assistant Robert Bookman while at Augusta, Ga.'s Uptown Veterans Administration Hospital.

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Smith, 2 fellow Soldiers receive Purple Hearts

By Sgt. Lyle Dillie/Eisenhower Army Medical Center Public Affairs

FORT GORDON, Ga. (TRADOC News Service, April 29, 2005) – A crowded auditorium full of Soldiers, medical staff and media recently witnessed a “humbling” event.

Three Soldiers received a Purple Heart April 22 from Brig. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, commanding general of the Southeast Regional Medical Command and Eisenhower Army Medical Center, and chief of the Army Medical Corps at EAMC.

“There are few ceremonies I feel as strongly about or as humbled by,” said Schoomaker. “This is a price they paid at our request.”

Staff Sgt. Jason Smith of Hermitage, Tenn., a 19K armor crewman, deployed to Iraq with 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor, Fort Stewart, Ga. He had been in Iraq for two months when he went on patrol near Samarra, Iraq. On a mission to help secure a supply route, his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device that had exploded near the vehicle. Smith was hit by shrapnel in his left leg. Quickly applying a tourniquet to his leg, he was able to treat his two other fallen comrades, maneuver the vehicle to a better position and call for a medical evacuation.

All three Soldiers had survived. His comrades are being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and he is currently getting rehabilitation treatment at the Augusta, Ga., Veterans Affairs rehabilitation unit.

Sgt. Robert Betterton from Cordova, Tenn., a 95B military policeman, part of the newly formed 278th Brigade Combat team, was deployed to Camp Caldwell, Iraq. While on patrol near Balad Ruz with the Iraqi military, he and his unit were ambushed, where he got out of his vehicle and took cover in an irrigation ditch near the side of the road.

While under consistent sniper and insurgent fire, Betterton helped secure the casualty collection point. During the long battle, in which Betterton received many hits to his body armor, he ran out of ammunition and picked up an AK-47. He was first wounded when a round struck the AK-47, then struck his right wrist and the front of his body armor. He continued to battle with the well-concealed sniper when he was again struck in the rear of his upper leg.

The third recipient was 2nd Lt. Christopher Ruel from Britain, Conn., a 19A tank commander who was an augmentee to the 278th Brigade Combat Team. He was assigned to the same patrol as Betterton when their unit was ambushed.

He dismounted his vehicle to organize the unit and take a better position to return fire. As the firefight wore on, Ruel was alerted to Betterton’s injuries in the drainage ditch and moved to that position to assist his fellow Soldier. Upon returning fire, he was struck in the shoulder by the enemy.

At the end of the ceremony, not only was each Soldier awarded a Purple Heart, they were given a coin from Schoomaker on behalf of the Army Medical Corps and a standing ovation from the crowd.

“As a father and a husband, you have given a part of yourself to my family,” Schoomaker remarked.