Medic goes from war zone abroad to war zone at home
Aug. 2, 2005 12:00 AM
Her son had seen too much war already, and he was going back for more. But not on this day. On June 22, Kim Janesky wanted to spend a few hours in the company of her children doing something as far removed as possible from death and destruction.
So they drove to the Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix and caught the early evening showing of the romantic comedy The Perfect Man. It didn't matter to any of them that it wasn't the perfect movie. It would be a couple of hours of peace for her son, Aaron Spaulding, a 28-year-old Navy corpsman serving with the Marines. It would be a couple of hours when Janesky and her daughter Chelsea would not dwell upon the dangers Aaron had faced during two previous tours or those awaiting him on his third.
Spaulding served first in Afghanistan and then during the early days of the invasion in Iraq. He told his grandfather that he had treated more wounded insurgents than Americans, sometimes with enemy sharpshooters firing on him as he tried to save the lives of their comrades.
"The movie was a break," Janesky said. "I knew that he would be leaving again on the Fourth of July. I just wanted to have a few days of regular family life."
They left the theater around 9 p.m., got onto Interstate 10 and headed east. Before they reached Seventh Street they could see a column of ugly black smoke rising from the road just ahead.
"It was across the freeway from us," Kim said. "There was a big truck on fire, another car turned over. Aaron yelled, 'Pull over. Stop the car.' So I did, and he just ran across the freeway, through traffic, to where the injured people were."
According to the accident report filed by state Department of Public Safety officers, a tractor-trailer with two men inside was heading west on I-10 when it swerved into a Ford Expedition carrying four men. Witnesses said the driver of the truck drifted into the side of the SUV. His partner was in the sleeping berth behind him. When the driver of the Expedition tried to pull away from the truck he went off the road, lost control, hit the guardrail and flipped.
The truck also went out of control. It crashed through the guardrail and struck a bridge support, separating the cab from the trailer and tossing the man from the sleeping berth. The truck caught fire, killing the driver. There was fuel, debris, smoke and fire everywhere. Running headlong into the middle of this urban war zone was a combat medic.
A report filed by one of the officers on the scene reads in part: "I first contacted occupants of the SUV who were all outside the vehicle; all complained of injury but none were life threatening. I next contacted another subject lying on the gravel behind the semi-trailer; he was seriously injured. He was mostly unresponsive but able to say that he was not driving the truck tractor. A passer by who happened to be a Navy Corpsman rendered aid."
When Spaulding returned to the car he said only that he was doing his job.
"It's how he is," his mother said. "Off the job he's funny and easygoing. But he's also really good at what he does. And dedicated. I got a chance to see that firsthand."
Spaulding, who has done more than his share, both here and abroad, is back in Iraq.
Some time ago a Marine Corps general described the typical Navy corpsman this way: "Usually a young, long haired, bearded, Marine-hatin' sailor with certain medical skills, who will go through the very gates of hell to get to a wounded Marine." Or to any of us, it turns out.
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That corpsman is a true testament to the bravery and courage of our troops, regardless of where they may find their skills needed.
Aug. 2, 2005 12:00 AM
Her son had seen too much war already, and he was going back for more. But not on this day. On June 22, Kim Janesky wanted to spend a few hours in the company of her children doing something as far removed as possible from death and destruction.
So they drove to the Arizona Center in downtown Phoenix and caught the early evening showing of the romantic comedy The Perfect Man. It didn't matter to any of them that it wasn't the perfect movie. It would be a couple of hours of peace for her son, Aaron Spaulding, a 28-year-old Navy corpsman serving with the Marines. It would be a couple of hours when Janesky and her daughter Chelsea would not dwell upon the dangers Aaron had faced during two previous tours or those awaiting him on his third.
Spaulding served first in Afghanistan and then during the early days of the invasion in Iraq. He told his grandfather that he had treated more wounded insurgents than Americans, sometimes with enemy sharpshooters firing on him as he tried to save the lives of their comrades.
"The movie was a break," Janesky said. "I knew that he would be leaving again on the Fourth of July. I just wanted to have a few days of regular family life."
They left the theater around 9 p.m., got onto Interstate 10 and headed east. Before they reached Seventh Street they could see a column of ugly black smoke rising from the road just ahead.
"It was across the freeway from us," Kim said. "There was a big truck on fire, another car turned over. Aaron yelled, 'Pull over. Stop the car.' So I did, and he just ran across the freeway, through traffic, to where the injured people were."
According to the accident report filed by state Department of Public Safety officers, a tractor-trailer with two men inside was heading west on I-10 when it swerved into a Ford Expedition carrying four men. Witnesses said the driver of the truck drifted into the side of the SUV. His partner was in the sleeping berth behind him. When the driver of the Expedition tried to pull away from the truck he went off the road, lost control, hit the guardrail and flipped.
The truck also went out of control. It crashed through the guardrail and struck a bridge support, separating the cab from the trailer and tossing the man from the sleeping berth. The truck caught fire, killing the driver. There was fuel, debris, smoke and fire everywhere. Running headlong into the middle of this urban war zone was a combat medic.
A report filed by one of the officers on the scene reads in part: "I first contacted occupants of the SUV who were all outside the vehicle; all complained of injury but none were life threatening. I next contacted another subject lying on the gravel behind the semi-trailer; he was seriously injured. He was mostly unresponsive but able to say that he was not driving the truck tractor. A passer by who happened to be a Navy Corpsman rendered aid."
When Spaulding returned to the car he said only that he was doing his job.
"It's how he is," his mother said. "Off the job he's funny and easygoing. But he's also really good at what he does. And dedicated. I got a chance to see that firsthand."
Spaulding, who has done more than his share, both here and abroad, is back in Iraq.
Some time ago a Marine Corps general described the typical Navy corpsman this way: "Usually a young, long haired, bearded, Marine-hatin' sailor with certain medical skills, who will go through the very gates of hell to get to a wounded Marine." Or to any of us, it turns out.
---
That corpsman is a true testament to the bravery and courage of our troops, regardless of where they may find their skills needed.
