Iraq:  2/14 Infantry Medic Saves Lives

FEBRUARY 28, 2005
2/14 Infantry Medic Saves Lives

 
By Spc. Matthew McLaughlin Task Force Baghdad

   CAMP LIBERTY, BAGHDAD, Iraq - Now is the time, he thought to himself as he gazed in shock at his wounded comrades. This is the reason for all of his training as a medic; the reason he joined the Army; possibly the reason to his very existence. Without hesitation, he grabbed his equipment and raced across a field toward his destiny.
   Pfc Jacob Torres, a medic with 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, tested his training and his mettle Feb. 28 when he treated nine Soldiers and Marines after an insurgent attack.
   Soldiers from 2/14 Inf. found an improvised explosive device while on patrol along Route Tampa in Baghdad. They secured the area and waited for the explosive ordinance detachment team to arrive. While waiting for EOD, a Marine convoy heading towards Fallujah approached. There was no way around the road, and the Marines were in a rush, so they decided to pass, against the Soldiers’ advice. The convoy passed between the IED and a 2/14 Inf. Humvee. Suddenly the IED detonated, hitting a Marine truck containing several Marines.
   “The whole passenger side of the seven-ton [truck] collapsed,” Torres, a Bakersville, Calif., native said. “I was about 100 meters away in a field. I saw everyone was down, and I took my [medic] bag and went running.”
   Torres said the reality of the situation did not hit him immediately.
“At first I was nervous,” he said. “I realized all these people were hurt. It took a moment to register that I was the one who had to help them. No one else could do it. Once I started with the first patient, I knew what to do.”
   Sgt. Shawn Coyle, a fire direction center Soldier from Quincy, Ill., said Torres took complete control of the situation. He immediately tended to the most seriously wounded patient, a Marine hit in the armpit with shrapnel.
   “It was amazing how he did under pressure,” Coyle said.
   All eyes turned to Torres for aid. He was not without help, however. Fellow Soldiers and Marines assisted Torres as he went from patient to patient treating them.
   “I had a lot of help from everyone there,” Torres said. “Two female Marines were injured but were still trying to help.”
   Although he was one of the lowest ranking Soldiers present, everyone followed his lead and obeyed his orders, Coyle said. “Rank goes out the window and they have to understand that. He took control of the whole situ­ation. It was amazing how well he did under pressure.”
   Torres stabilized the Marine, but he died later during surgery. Torres had more patients to tend to, however, and he couldn’t reflect on consequences - or names and ranks for that matter.
   “Everything happened so fast, I don’t remember faces,” Torres said. “It was just a blur. People said ‘you did this, you did that.’ I don’t remember.”
   He couldn’t remember faces or even what he did, but weeks later Torres could still explain in detail every injury he treated. In all, Torres treated nine Soldiers and Marines. All this from a private first class only months into his first deployment, Coyle said.
   “He never did anything like this in a real world situation,” he said. “I brag to other Soldiers about him. I said, ‘You should have seen him.’ We want to have him out with us every time.”
   For his bravery, Torres was awarded the Combat Medic Badge. Torres said he is proud of his performance and glad he could help his comrades-in-arms.
   “It feels good, like I did something,” Torres said. “I didn’t feel like I was doing my job until then

 

2/14th Infantry Medic Saves Lives
From Vol 3, No 14 Issue of Scimitar published by the Multi-National Forces, in Baghdad, Iraq, April 8, 2005
Copyright © 2008 Kirk S. Ramsey
Last modified: December 06, 2021