Shipping Over For Another Hitch, The "3/1 HARD" WayYep... that pretty much defines "hard"
A special helmet tip to Tom over at Confounding The Wicked
While conducting counter-insurgency operations this morning with Battalion Landing Team 3/1's Lima Company, [Cpl. Gareth] Hawkins' vehicle was hit by a massive improvised explosive device, shattering his right leg and injuring two other Marines. Within minutes of the blast, Hawkins was set to be flown out of the area and into the hands of higher medical care.
According to 1st Sgt. Gary Moran, Lima Co. First Sergeant, Hawkins didn't want to leave until he was reenlisted by battalion staff here, more than 14 kilometers from his position.
"Hawkins just got hit in a major blast that could've killed him," Moran said, "and he said, 'First Sergeant, I don't want to fly out … I want to go to (the Combat Outpost) first'." The First Sergeant said he was stunned. After assessing Hawkins' condition, movement to the COP was approved. While lying on a litter in the surgical area, Hawkins, straining words through extreme pain, gave his reasons for the unusual request.
"'Cause it's motivating," said the Spokane, Wash. native. "I was going to reenlist anyway, this is what I wanted to do." Throughout the surgical station, Marines and medical personnel could be heard murmuring "(expletive) motivating, man …," and "that's crazy." Hawkins wouldn't budge.
The Battalion Executive Officer, Maj. Kevin Gonzalez, along with the Career Retention Specialist Staff Sgt. Chandrash Malapaka, and several others crammed into the tiny room for the ceremony. "We're going to do the short version of this," said the Executive Officer.
Raising his right hand, Hawkins took the oath of enlistment by 1st Lt. Warren A. Frank, his platoon commander. With no time for the usual formalities of backslaps and handshakes, Hawkins was immediately carried out via litter and evacuated.
Standing by his sense of duty and raw determination in the face of extreme pain and uncertainty, Cpl. Gareth Hawkins has epitomized the battalion motto of "3/1 Hard."
For those who don't know, 3/1 is the Marine Corps designation for the 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.
posted by Kevin Whiteman at
2:03 AM
3 Comments:
That's am amazing story. Hail to Cpl. Hawkins! I'm a confused person. As a housewife, I have no idea what to think of all these wars, but I have a thing for soldiers and men like Cpl. Hawkins explain why. He's a great man.
btw, what do you think of Ted Kennedy's (and someone else I forget) sneaky attempt to attach hate-crime legislation to funding for our troops in Iraq. I read about that this morning and was absolutely pissed off.
I feel sorry for our military personnel caught in the clutches of blackhearts like these. They don't deserve it. I read on the same morning Kennedy's shenanigans and the awesome courage of Cpl. Hawkins and realize afresh that something is rotten. This is why I'm a confused housewife.
That brought tears to my eyes. And this country has warriors like that willing to die so *expletive deleted* pussies like Harry Reid can talk about cutting budgets and passing "resolutions" that only hearten the radical Moslems.
Joseph,
No need to be confused. Men such as Cpl Hawkins realize that the more moslem fanatics he kills in Iraq, the less chance others of their ilk will comne to America and kill us.
Ted Kennedy, on the other hand, is nothing more than (as Lenin called them) a useful idiot.
______________________________
FAB,
Damn straight. But that sory reminded me of when I was in the Gulf War, I took pictures of a fellow Marine re-enlisting.... right smack dab in the middle of the burning oil fields. I gotta admit, it was pretty cool.
But it was also kinda disconcerting when we were all told not to get too close to the flaming well head. The fires were so intense, and they were sucking in so much oxygen, that if we got too close, we'd get sucked in.
FLAME ON!!!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home