Medic Shows ValorSpc. Shane Courville showed the
kind of courage that this blog supports:
“When I got out I couldn’t see because of the smoke,” Courville said. “I got to Lt. Col. Infanti as quick as I could and started treating him.”
Courville examined Infanti and noticed he had lacerations to the back of his head and was disoriented from a concussion he received from the blast.
While he was applying bandages to Infanti’s head, three RPGs were fired at the convoy. One exploded under a vehicle. Another hit the tires of a vehicle and one hit the back of a vehicle, but did not detonate. It lodged between the blankets that the patrol was on their way to deliver.
Despite the enemy fire directed at his position, Courville continued to treat his commander’s wounds. Knowlden, who was also wounded by the IED, helped Courville loaded Infanti into the damaged vehicle where the medic continued to administer first aid while the convoy departed the area.
Moments later, a second IED detonated underneath Knowlden’s humvee, sending the back hatch of their truck flying end-over-end into the air. The Soldiers in the patrol dismounted once again and performed a security perimeter around the vehicles.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Carollo, 2nd BCT, HHC security patrol sergeant, was part of the dismounted team and said they noticed a group of wounded civilians who had been injured in the crossfire from the attack.
Courville immediately began treating them.
