{"id":81394,"date":"2018-08-25T11:42:16","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T15:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=81394"},"modified":"2018-08-25T11:42:16","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T15:42:16","slug":"navy-corpsman-ran-through-a-wall-of-fire-to-save-his-marines-during-ambush-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=81394","title":{"rendered":"Navy corpsman ran through a wall of fire to save his Marines during ambush in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nMilitary Times<\/a> tells the tale of, at the time, SA Fonseca, a Hospital Corpsman assigned to a Marine Battalion, and his actions under fire during the Iraq War.<\/p>\n

The deadly battle of Nasiriyah reared its ugly head on March 23, 2003, when the Marines of 2nd Assault Amphibious Battalion were ambushed as they advanced to secure the Saddam Canal Bridge, the northernmost bridge in the Iraqi city.<\/p>\n

The elaborate attack of small arms and indirect fire claimed the lives of 18 Marines that day, a number that could have been significantly higher had it not been for the bravery and instinctive actions of their corpsman, then-23-year-old Seaman Apprentice Luis Fonseca.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we came up and over the bridge, we ran right into an ambush,\u201d he said in a 2008 Department of Defense release. \u201cThey threw all they had at us \u2014 small arms fire, heavy machine gun fire, rocket propelled grenades, mortars and artillery rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

With all hell breaking loose, an amphibious assault vehicle to Fonseca\u2019s front was struck by a rocket propelled grenade, inflicting five casualties.<\/p>\n

Seeing the vehicle beginning to catch fire, the platoon sergeant, then-Gunnery Sgt. David Myers, called for Fonseca, and the young corpsman on his first deployment sprung into action, grabbing his medical bag and sprinting through a wall of small arms fire on his way to the disabled vehicle.<\/p>\n

When he arrived, he saw all five Marines were grievously wounded. Fonseca got to work immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed I had two patients with partial lower-leg amputations, one with flash burns to his eyes, and all had shrapnel wounds,\u201d the corpsman said. \u201cI applied tourniquets on the two Marines with the partial leg amputations and instructed the other Marines around to apply battle dressings on the others that were wounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fonseca then coordinated the removal of the wounded Marines from the kill zone to a vehicle where the enemy ambush was less concentrated. After administering morphine to the two with the most urgent medical needs, he received a call that another vehicle had been hit.<\/p>\n

Because the convoy had broken up at the outset of the firefight, the disabled vehicle he was looking for wasn\u2019t where it was supposed to be. Exposed and unsure where it was, Fonseca ran through more fire to get back to his vehicle.<\/p>\n

Just as he arrived, four direct hits blasted the amtrak, creating havoc and dust-filled confusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo of them were on our right side,” he said. “One was on our center top hatch. All three were … 122 mm mortar rounds. The fourth and final round that disabled the truck was a recoilless rifle round that blew up our transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n

All wounded Marines from Fonseca\u2019s vehicle, except one, were quickly transferred out of the kill zone at the direction of the corpsman.<\/p>\n

\u201cI picked up the last Marine \u2026 and carried him to a ditch,\u201d Fonseca said. \u201cThe Marine and I sat in the ditch for about 30 minutes before I could get another vehicle to pick us up and drive us out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once that Marine was picked up, Fonseca rejoined his platoon in the fight, a brutal clash that would wind up lasting over six hours.<\/p>\n

On top of the 18 killed, \u201cfifteen others were wounded and left the battlefield, and about 10 others [who] were wounded \u2026 stayed,” Fonseca said.<\/p>\n

The corpsman treated and coordinated the evacuation of nearly a dozen Marines that day. For his bravery, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the service\u2019s second highest award for valor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Navy Cross means to me honor, sacrifice and loyalty,\u201d Fonseca said. \u201cHonor because it is my honor to wear the Navy Cross for my brothers that gave their lives in that fight. So, it\u2019s my honor to wear their Navy Cross that honors them. A lot of men sacrificed that day. Unfortunately, some families and friends had to sacrifice their loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the fighting finally slowed, Gunnery Sgt. Myers, who once told Fonseca, \u201cI\u2019m only going to tell you this once. I don\u2019t like corpsman. Stay out of my way,\u201d approached the exhausted 23-year-old \u201cdoc.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came up to me and gave me a big hug,\u201d Fonseca said. \u201cWith pride in his voice, he said \u2018Doc, you did one hell of a job. Oorah Marine!\u2019 He became one of my biggest mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fonseca would go on to complete additional deployments and see combat with the Marines in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but that day in March 2003 is what showed him the true meaning of being a combat medic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job of a corpsman is to go through hell and back for your Marines,\u201d Fonseca said in a release. \u201cMy brothers needed me, so I was going to be there for them. As long as I was alive, I would keep working, even if it meant my life. I wish I could have done more.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another humble hero. Since there really isn’t anything I can add, I’ll just leave it here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Military Times tells the tale of, at the time, SA Fonseca, a Hospital Corpsman assigned to … Navy corpsman ran through a wall of fire to save his Marines during ambush in Iraq<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[478],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-none"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}