Former sailor gets Silver Star for Iraq actions
The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday Jan 27, 2009 5:50:43 EST
FARMINGTON, N.M. — A former Navy medic was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest military decoration, for treating four badly wounded Marines amid machine-gun fire and grenade explosions in Iraq.
Jesse Hickey of Farmington received the medal during a ceremony Jan. 7 at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Hickey, 26, was walking behind a tank with a squad of Marines on Nov. 16, 2005, in New Ubaydi, Iraq, to check homes for insurgents during Operation Steel Curtain.
Insurgents began shooting from a grove of palm trees and some homes, Hickey said. The squad ran for shelter at another home and found several wounded Marines lying outside.
Hickey began treating an injured Marine when an insurgent tossed a grenade next to the men. Hickey said the Marine picked up the grenade and it blew off his hand as he threw it.
That Marine also received a Silver Star because Hickey said the grenade would have killed them.
“I remember being scared as hell,” Hickey said.
Another grenade exploded and sent shrapnel into Hickey’s legs and arms. He continued to treat wounded Marines and checked pulses on those who had died. He tied a tourniquet on one Marine who lost his leg.
Dennis Rogers, a Marine corporal who lives in Lincoln, Neb., recalled Hickey rushing to help after the men heard someone call for a medic.
“He was the first one,” Rogers said, adding that Hickey didn’t flinch when the grenade exploded.
Although he was wounded, Hickey exposed himself to automatic gunfire while rushing 75 meters through an enemy kill zone to assist and evacuate wounded Marines, his Silver Star citation says.
Once inside a building where the wounded Marines were moved, Hickey directed others in treating the injuries but refused help for his arm.
Hickey said his wounds were not as bad as the others so he refused to leave on a helicopter until the wounded Marines were removed. The citation says Hickey’s efforts were instrumental in saving numerous lives.
Rogers said Hickey deserved the Silver Star.
“He definitely went above and beyond,” Rogers said.
Hickey said those who lost limbs in the explosion would have died from blood loss had he not tied tourniquets on them.
Hickey, who has fully recovered and lives in Farmington, was transported to a hospital in Germany and treated the next day. He was glad to see the Marines at the Silver Star ceremony.
“These guys are like my brothers,” Hickey said.
• Information from: The Daily Times, http://www.daily-times.com
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