Seaman Apprentice Byron McGill, a Petal, Miss., native and a Navy corpsman with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, takes time for a photo with Basbibi (left), a local resident, and her daughter. The 2-year-old girl drowned in a canal outside her home recently, but McGill revived her and save her life. Photo by Sgt. Earnest J. BarnesSmall RSS Icon

A Petal, Miss., native used his medical training to revive a drowned Afghan toddler while conducting counterinsurgency operations Sept. 11.

The day started out as a normal day in Afghanistan for Seaman Apprentice Byron McGill, a Navy corpsman from Petal serving with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. He checked his gear, as well as the physical condition of the Marines he cares for, and they stepped off on a patrol. It seemed no different than the many they’d conducted prior to this day.

The Marines patrolled en route to a local resident’s compound where they were going to ask questions about enemy activity in the area. The point man, which directs the routes of each patrol, was leading the squad and came upon a scene which frightened him.

Lance Cpl. Jorge A. Palacios, a Miami, Fla., native and an infantry point man with Charlie Company, said he was overcome with disbelief when he saw a child floating in the canal next to a compound.

The child was not moving when he pulled her out of the canal. He began screaming for McGill. “I personally thought she was dead,” Palacios added.

McGill rushed to provide aid in a matter of seconds. Unaware of what his fellow service member was yelling about, he was disturbed by the scene he came upon. Palacios, who is also a team leader with his squad, handed off the child and set up his Marines to form a security bubble to give McGill the safety and area he needed to work on the unexpected patient.

Seaman Apprentice Byron McGill, a Petal, Miss., native and a Navy corpsman, takes time after a patrol for a photo with Lance Cpl. Jorge A. Palacios, a Miami, Fla., native and an infantryman. Palacios came upon a young Afghan child face down in canal while patrolling recently. He pulled the girl out of the water, and McGill used his medical training to save her life. Both men are serving with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Photo by Sgt. Earnest J. Barnes

“Of course, I freaked out at first, [thinking], ‘Oh baby! Dead baby!’” said McGill. “Then I told myself, ‘Just do your job.’ I just went by the basic steps — the ABCs.”

McGill evaluated the situation and quickly put the pieces together of what happened.

McGill immediately began administering treatment. He opened the child’s airway and then checked her chest for movement. He did not see any, and he went back to clear the child’s airway for a second time to begin rescue breathing, which is a basic lifesaving step he learned from his medical training. McGill said as soon as he cleared the 2-year-old girl’s airway for the second time using the head-tilt, chin-lift method, the child miraculously reacted.

“The baby started vomiting and choking. I picked the baby up, put her on my knee, and gave her a few thrusts to the back so she [could] get rid of the vomit and water in her mouth,” said McGill, who joined the Navy in 2008. “She continued to vomit and cough. After about 30 seconds she cried out, and that is when I knew she was ok. I grabbed a cloth and wrapped her in it and held her for a second.”

Several Marines on scene began yelling into the nearby compound to alert someone inside of the incident.

Basbibi, a local resident and the mother of the young girl, said she was inside the house when she noticed her daughter missing. She said she looked for her all over, but it was when she came to the back of the compound that she heard a lot of noise and emerged confused about what was happening outside her home.

“I was scared, because I did not know what was going on. There were a lot of Marines around,” said Basbibi. “I realized they were helping my daughter, and my fear faded away.”

McGill handed the child off to her mother and gave specific instructions on what to do to care for the toddler. Basbibi gave a sincere thank you to McGill and the Marines as they went on their way to continue their assigned mission.

McGill said it felt great to be able to save a life, and it isn’t just him doing miraculous things over here. He explained the members of the coalition forces are changing lives everyday, and he wished everyone, to include his family, could see the change that is being made.

“My wife was very proud, but I wish others could see, and my family could see, the good things we do,” said McGill.

Story by Sgt. Earnest J. Barnes
DVIDS

November 6, 2009, was a typical day for the men of Company F., 2^nd Marine Special Operations Battalion. With about a week remaining in their tour in Afghanistan, they had been tasked with recovering the bodies of two fellow Marines who had drowned in a nearby river. They entered the town of Bala Murghab, in Badghis province, knowing that there would be a fight.

Hospital Corpsman First Class Amilcar Rodriguez described that day to the Marine Times.

Rodriguez, a Navy corpsman assigned to the Marine force, several Marines and the Afghan commandos that they were mentoring took positions on a rooftop. Almost immediately they came under accurate and intense sniper fire. Rodriguez was called to attend to a wounded Marine and two wounded Afghans.

Rodriguez used his SAW weapon to deadly effect, firing nearly 200 rounds and silencing the Taliban sniper team. He then moved to aid the wounded. As he worked, he felt three blows to his body. An enemy round had pierced his chest and struck a lung. Another had hit his right arm. A third struck him in the neck.

The citation for his Silver Star records that he continued to try to treat the other wounded, and provided direction to Marines and other corpsmen after being moved from the roof.It continues “By his bold initiative, undaunted courage, and complete dedication to duty, Hospital Corpsman First Class Rodriguez reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.”

Corpsman Rodriguez had been awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds. His arm injury required several surgeries and physical therapy. He has regained use and sensation.

Amilcar Rodriguez joined the United States Navy in 1998 after his graduation from an Avon CT high school. He currently instructs other Special Operations medics at the Joint Special Operations Medical Training Center at Fort Bragg, NC. In 2009 he was named MARSOC Medic of the Year. Rodriguez is married and has one son.

The word “hero” has often come to mean someone who just happened to be present at a disaster. That diminishes the term, when it truly applies to men and women like Hospital Corpsman First Class Amilcar Rodriguez. The Silver Star is the third highest award for valor in battle that a sailor can receive, preceded only by the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. Heroes such as Amilcar Rodriguez deserve our admiration, our thanks and our respect. A medal is just a small symbol of what America owes such heroes.

BAKIT, Iraq (March 20, 2007) Hospital Corpsman 1st Class J. L. Knuth examines the face of an Iraqi child during a combined medical engagement in Al Anbar province. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Scott B. Wyatt

Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to interview Jennifer Knuth. She’s on her third deployment to the AOR, with the first two being on the carrier Lincoln. She’s a single mom, with twin five year old girls. The high point of this deployment has been her participation in humanitarian missions outside the wire. This pic illustrates what makes her happy, helping Iraqi women and children.