CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, Sept. 13, 2006 — “America’s Battalion” Marines made a midnight run to rush to the aid of a 7 year old Iraqi girl after she fell from a three-story building. Marines rushed the girl to Camp Fallujah’s surgical center for treatment after local police were unable to get her proper medical attention.The incident occurred late at night in Gharmah, a small city north of Fallujah. Iraqi police there tried to rush the young girl to the Jordanian hospital in Fallujah, but had difficulty getting to the hospital, according to 1st Lt. Joshua R. Rosales, a 25-year-old platoon commander who responded to the call for help.
“We got the call from the commanding officer to link up with Iraqi Police at the police station,” explained Rosales, from Raleigh, N.C. “We met up with them in Gharmah, and they had the little girl. They wanted us to be careful.”
She's going to be OK. More details and some photos at link.
“It’s hard to show we’re working for hearts and minds in the infantry,” Nelson said. “This was an example of it tonight.”
“This shows the people we’re out here for them. In our line of work, that’s sometimes hard to do,” Ross said. “It shows that when someone gets hurts, we can step out and let that other side shine.”
Rosales said he was proud of his team’s reaction to the call for help. They maintained cool heads and were able to adapt from combat operations to the midnight mercy run without missing a beat. “They put themselves at risk for this little girl,” Rosales said. “That’s something I see all the Marines doing. They put themselves at risk for the Iraqi people.”
This mission, though, is more rewarding than some of the routine operations. They were able to ease the pain of a little girl, help a family and do something good for the community. “You want to do things like this, especially for the kids,” Nelson said. “The little girls are always the sweet, shy ones that come up and ask for candy.”