![]() ![]() Several weeks after I was asked about the injury and I said it was really nothing,” said Vaughn. I chalked it up to prayer that there was no gaping wound. To this day I have a hard time telling this, but it really was amazing that it wasn’t worse. My Marines were on the radio all saying, ‘Doc Vaughn has been hit!’ But after I looked at myself, I thought it really wasn’t that bad. I remember I could feel blood seeping down inside my uniform top. “When the explosion went off, it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my left shoulder. Vaughn then finally took a moment to examine himself. We weren’t too far from that unit,” Vaughn said. I then cleaned up the leg injury of my Marine and got him off to a Surgical Shock Trauma Platoon. “We got out of the courtyard, around the corner, and dropped off the prisoners. There was still the responsibility to deliver the insurgents to their designated staging area. Vaughn’s immediate attention centered on his Marine who sustained an injury to his leg from the blast that tore into his pants and severely injured the limb. I didn’t let go of either the insurgent or my gear.” “All I know is that at that time I had a hold of the insurgent in my right hand and was carrying my medical kit and weapon in my left. A hidden projectile? An improvised explosive device? An RPG?” related said Vaughn, currently assigned to the Mental Health Department as a Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program (SARP) counselor. I didn’t know what it was and, to this day, still don’t know what caused that blast. Vaughn and a Marine from his squad were each escorting an insurgent from a dwelling across a courtyard when a sudden explosion brought a sudden rush of searing shrapnel, concussive noise and hot air filled with swirling debris. Some of the Purple Heart recipients who were acknowledged for their valor when battered and bruised, but not beaten, include the following trio:Īt Al Fallujah, Iraq in December, 2004, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Richard Vaughn was concentrating on an insurgent prisoner and about to become a Purple Heart recipient.Īssigned to 1st Marine Division, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine with Kilo Company, 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squadron, Vaughn, then a hospitalman, was involved in Operation Phantom Fury, a two month battle fought in the ravaged cityscape against a determined enemy. On August 7, Purple Heart Recognition Day has significant meaning to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Bremerton with more than a few staff members receiving the medal in the line of duty. America’s oldest military award, distinctive in its rarity, has been annually recognized since 1782. ![]()
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