Posted on 03/24/2002 11:33:16 PM PST by Snow Bunny
I am with you----
Whispered the medic to another fallen hero
I am with you----
He repeated as he wiped the crimson tears
Streaming down the young soldiers face.
The soldiers eyes, opened slowly,
His lips struggled to smile
He knew the bugler
Would not be
Playing today
He knew his Flag
Would remain at Full Mast.
For he knew he was saved
By a battlefield angel.
As the pain faded his eyelids grew
Heavy , once again,
The young soldier
Heard the soft
Whisper of the
Battlefield angel----
I am with you.
Jerry Komar, Medic, USAF,1970
Synopsis of Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards - CMB) The Combat Medical Badge was conceived March 1, 1945 by the War Department. The Combat Medical Badge (CMB) could specifically be awarded to Officers and Enlisted personnel of the Medical Department who were assigned to or attached to a medical detachment of the infantry. The CMB was to recognize medical aidmen who shared the same hazards and hardships of ground combat on a daily basis with the infantry soldier. The CMB was never intended to be awarded to all medical personnel. Due to the uniqueness of ground combat in the infantry it was intended to be awarded only to those Medics who served under direct fire with the infantry. To be awarded the Combat Medical Badge, the infantry unit to which the medical personnel were assigned or attached must have engaged the enemy in active ground combat. Medical personnel must have been personally present and under fire in order to be eligible for this award. During the Vietnam War, the requirements were so stringent that recommending officials were required to document the place (in six digit co-ordinates), the time, the type of engagement, and also the intensity of fire to which the medical personnel were exposed. The Combat Medical Badge could also be awarded to U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force medical personnel as long as they met all the requirements of Army medical personnel.
"He might be the ugliest 'mother' in the valley," a grunt claimed,"but when you're wounded and need help, he's there....with the touch of a mother caring for her newborn baby; with the determination and bravery of a bulldog, and the knowledge and experience to do his job."
"He can't afford a 'goof', the grunt continued, "He's the lifeline between a bandage and a cast ...or a box." Some call him "DOC", the Vietnamese call him :Bac Si".
He deserves better then that, call him " Marine!"
Let us not forget that there was in fact a Corpsman with the Marines as they raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi.
Hospital Corpsman John Bradley was there and was one of the three survivors from the raising to leave Iwo Jima. John Bradley died January 11, 1994 at the age of 70.
CORPSMAN MEMORIAL
Statue commissioned by Dr.Will DOCLaing MD,PHD. And was dedicated on September 2, 196 at
the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland.
With the advent of the Korean conflict, the Hospital Corps once again responded to the call of duty. Members of the corps, individually and collectively, added a brilliant chapter to the history of the corps. During the Inchon-Seoul operation, for example, medical units attached to the 1st Marine Division cared for 2,844 casualties during the period of September 15 to October 7, 1950. Hospital Corpsman were at the forefront of all the fighting, saving lives on the beaches as the Marines stormed in. They performed on-the-spot emergency and first aid treatment, as Secretary Forrestal described it, "while shell fragments ripped clothing from their bodies and shattered plasma bottles in their hands."
Actually, those dog tag chains were the real love beads - not the phony junk the campus leftists wore.
Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.
-- the words of Jesus in the book of St. John
:
Thanks Snow Bunny, for not letting us forget. These are the real hero's that don't make a few million a year.....
Yep, and we all wore them PROUDLY...
Open your arms to change, but never let go of your values.
When you say, "I love you", mean it.
Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
Talk slowly but think quick.
Memorize your favorite poem.
Don't judge people by their relatives.
Never laugh at anyone's dreams.
Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Spend some time alone.
Read between the lines.
Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
Mind your own business.
At least once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
Remember the three R's:
Respect for yourself;
Respect for others;
Responsibility for all your actions.
Make your life happier every day -
It's up to YOU!
It WILL be a great day tomorrow.
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