Silver Star Previous post
After all this, he also found time to renew his wedding vows. See the second story.
Army News Service, June 27, 2007
Even after having been thrown several meters, knocked unconscious, set aflame and buried under rubble all as a result of a suicide-vehicle-borne IED, a Fort Riley medic braved small-arms fire to save the lives of fellow Soldiers and Iraqi policemen last year.
Cpl. Clinton Warrick received the Army’s third highest award for valor during a June 18 ceremony at Riverside Park for his actions during a Sept. 18, 2006, insurgent attack, when he was serving as a medic with the 2nd Platoon, 300th Military Police Company, at the Al Huryia Iraqi Police Station.
Maj. Gen. Carter Ham, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley, present Cpl. Warrick the Silver Star and other awards before his family and friends, and his former 300th MP Co. platoon leader, company commander and first sergeant.
“This is one of Fort Riley’s great Soldiers – one of our real, no-kidding heroes,” Maj. Gen. Ham said at the ceremony. “It is right and proper that we come here to present you this award for valor. It is heroes like this who make our Army the best in the world and our nation so strong.”
Shortly before the explosion Cpl. Warrick heard small-arms fire. His platoon leader, 1st Lt. Kevin Jones, was on the roof and saw the SVBIED approaching. Just before what Cpl. Warrick remembers as a “fireball” rolled down the hallway in his direction, 1st Lt. Jones began running downstairs to get everyone as far back from the explosion as possible.
“I made it about halfway down the hallway when the explosion took place,” said 1st Lt. Jones, who suffered burns and received shrapnel wounds on his lower back and legs. He was temporarily knocked unconscious.
“When I regained consciousness, I had an idea of what happened, but I was thrown down a side hallway, and it was full of smoke and debris,” 1st Lt. Jones said.
Just feet away, Cpl. Warrick lay unconscious. His legs were on fire, and the roof and an exterior wall had collapsed on him.
When 1st Lt. Jones found Cpl. Warrick, he put out the fire, dragged him 20 meters to a vacant room and helped him fully regain consciousness. After talking himself through continuing his mission and helping as many people as he could, Cpl. Warrick made his way outside amidst small-arms fire to triage patients at the casualty-collection point 1st Lt. Jones and his Soldiers established moments earlier.
“I had a job to do and I still needed to do it,” Cpl. Warrick said. “I was there for rendering medical aid.
Though he was injured severely, Cpl. Warrick refused to sit down, as he knew he would have immediately slipped into shock. He triaged several wounded Iraqi policemen, assessed others and conveyed the situation to the medical station on Forward Operating Base Ramadi to prepare them for the incoming patients.
“Cpl. Warrick continued to use his medical knowledge to have the U.S. Soldiers treat our wounded as well as Iraqi Police. Even though he couldn’t physically do it, he was helping us do it,” 1st Lt. Jones said.
After a sufficient number of QRF personnel had arrived, Cpl. Warrick and other injured Soldiers were medevac’ed – with Cpl. Warrick’s status as urgent.
Today Warrick is in a medical hold company at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he has been undergoing surgeries and rehabilitation since his arrival last year. He is scheduled to be medically separated from the Army, and plans to return to his hometown to earn a teaching degree.
He still insists he was only doing the right thing at the right time.
“It’s kind of hard to fathom because I just did my job,” Cpl. Warrick said. “I didn’t do anything special, is what I feel. I did what I needed to do.”
Journal Gazette and Times-Courier
Clinton and Jennifer Warrick’s lives have changed dramatically since they married quickly on Nov. 12, 2005, just before his redeployment to Iraq.
Army Cpl. Warrick, 33, was severely wounded last year during an attack on the Iraqi police station where he was serving. Mrs. Warrick, 26, a Charleston native, has helped care for her husband as he has undergone a series of medical treatments in the recovery process.
Still, the Warricks were able to fulfill a pledge they made to each other at the time of their wedding. On Saturday, they renewed their vows, surrounded by family and friends at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Charleston.
Saturday’s wedding took place during a vacation from Warrick’s treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. The vacation also provided an opportunity for the Army to present Warrick with a Silver Star for saving the lives of others during the Sept 18, 2006, police station attack even though he was suffering from life-threatening wounds.
The Warricks, who met while serving together in Iraq, had quickly organized a wedding prior to the medic’s December 2005 redeployment. They held a small ceremony in Greenup followed by a reception at What’s Cookin’ in Charleston, where an anonymous diner paid the bill.
Mrs. Warrick said only immediate family members were able to attend the 2005 wedding, so they planned to renew their vows after he returned from Iraq.
“We wanted to have a big wedding with all the family. It went very well. It was a very nice ceremony,” Mrs. Warrick said on Monday at the home of her parents, Mike and Nancy Steiskal.
The Silver Star presentation took place last week during a ceremony attended by Warrick’s superiors from the 300th Military Police Company. The ceremony was held in Murphysboro, where the couple resides so Mrs. Warrick can resume radiology studies at Southern Illinois University. [snip]
Even though Warrick is accustomed to administering care in the field, the medic said he has been pretty relaxed about letting other people care for his own injuries.
Much of that care has come from his wife, who spends two hours each day treating his wounds. He wears a special compression garment to help reduce scarring.
“I spent a week in the hospital helping dress his wounds and learning how to do it,” Mrs. Warrick explained.
Warrick said his skin is becoming tougher and his left hand is getting stronger, so he is able to accomplish more tasks. He can now put on his clothes, eat a meal and brush his teeth without help. Warrick said he is especially pleased with being able to drive a car again.
“It helps because I am not stuck some place. I can now go to appointments by myself. (My wife) does not need to be dragged out every time I go to the hospital,” Warrick said. He is scheduled to undergo two more surgeries in the coming months.
Mrs. Warrick said she and her husband have received a lot of support within and outside of their families. As examples, she said her mother took time off from work to help, and people have donated money. She added, “We have gotten tons of cards from grade schools.”
“I would just like to thank everyone for their prayers. It did help,” said Warrick, who plans to go back to school and become a math or science teacher. “I have kept a very positive outlook through the whole process.”
