Coming Soon: Doc Duty

Posts on Jason "Doc" Duty, the Corpsman formerly attached with Aaron's unit will be added to our venue soon. I've enjoyed a few emails from him in the last couple of days, so I'm going to start putting some of his information together. Doc is currently serving in Afghanistan and is impressed with what he sees there.

Doc is personable and dedicated. I don't think he'll be shy at all in answering any questions you might have. He's answered mine more than once and assures me he'll continue to do so. (That mind again you know.) As I've mentioned before, he's the Corpsman who was with Aaron. As the following article will illustrate, Doc is a true example of the dedication of our men and women serving in other countries. And he is a warrior. He says that's what he likes about the country he serves in now, "they like to fight."

I think we can feel free to ask anything we might want to know about that day nearly three years ago (wow.), and I certainly encourage that. I've always wanted to know every detail about Aaron that I could, to include his death as well as this terrible day so many suffered through, still suffer through, so please don't be afraid to ask on my account.

Primarily though, I want to concentrate on what Doc is doing to serve now as well as what a Corpsman does in general. His role in our feature, much like "To Be" and "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" should prove not only the skill and loyalty with which our troops serve, but also serve to inform and encourage us as to the caliber of generations we Americans produce.

We do have much to be proud of. Let's talk about that.

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These are snippets taken from the full article which is linked below. The article is a pretty good description of April 26, 2004's heroes. There are a few details about Aaron and what he did that day (in the full article), but it isn't super graphic.

"Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue" - Admiral Nimitz, March 16, 1945, referring to the Marines victory on Iwo Jima.

"Everyone said Doc Duty was faster than bullets that day" - Marine Lance Corporal John Flores, July 31, 2004, referring to the heroics of the Corpsman for Echo 2/1....

After braving enemy fire four times to evacuate wounded Marines, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason "Doc" Duty received a medal nomination that reads, "As bullets impacted within inches of his head, Duty remained resolute in his mission."

The corpsman, Duty, and Sgt. Skiles were recognized for evacuating wounded Marines while exposed to unrelenting fire.

Duty braved enemy fire four times to load Marines into a Humvee driven by Skiles, who coordinated the rescue.

"I do remember thinking I was in trouble about the third trip because that's when the volume of fire increased a lot," Duty said.

"When we were loading the last guy, they chucked a hand grenade at our Humvee and it hit the hood. It rolled off and didn't explode. I think they were trying to throw it in the back where the wounded were being loaded."

for full article : Blackfive: Showdown