Marine Combat Videographer Receives MedalCentCom's done a nice job of improving their website lately, and they have a special
"Heroes In Action" section that I'll be checking in with regularly.
Here's a good story about a combat videographer who dropped his camera when a fellow marine was in danger:
[Cpl. Neill A.] Sevelius noticed a wounded Marine on the rooftop, and ran to his aid after he realized the Marine was injured and not coming down on his own.
“It was almost like slow motion. I thought, ‘What is he doing? He needs to get off the roof.’ Then he crumpled,” he said.
The Marine on the rooftop was wounded by enemy small arms fire, according to Sevelius' award citation.
On his own accord, Sevelius assisted the Marine off the roof top and into a courtyard below the building, where the rest of the Marines helped him. Through it all, the Marines shouted words of encouragement to the wounded Marine: “You’ll be alright!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Sevelius put down his camera and leapt to the adjoining rooftop to come to the aid of the fallen warrior. His quick actions are attributed to saving the Marine’s life.
“I didn’t see any bullet holes so I started feeling around for blood. I felt some dampness (on his upper thigh), so I picked up his leg a little bit,” he said.
Using trauma shears to expose the wound, Sevelius was relieved.
“It was basically a very deep grazing wound. I saw it and told (the Marine) that he was going to be fine, that he had nothing to worry about. I then basically applied pressure to the wound until the corpsman could take over,” he said.
After the ceremony, Sevelius downplayed his achievement.
“Marines do great stuff every day, I just happened to get noticed,” he said.If there's a common thread about heroes, it's that none of them ever think they're one; they all just see it as doing their duty.
