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FORT DRUM, Ny. – An Alpine Soldier receives an achievement award, for saving the life of a local motorist near the Fort Drum area.
A U.S. Army Sergeant assigned to 41st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team on his way home from work receives the most unexpected news. A Soldier assigned to his team was in a car accident. Without a moment’s hesitation, he travels to help his soldier and makes sure he is taken care of, not knowing that this was just the start of his heroic day.
Sgt. Chase Parker, a Utilities Equipment Repairer with Echo Company, 41st BEB., ended his day by helping two individuals. The first, his Soldier in need after being in an unfortunate incident with his vehicle, the other a local involved in a car collision.
A mile away from the Mannsville, NY exit on the side of the road he found a van flipped on its side with smoke billowing and horn blaring, where he and another Soldier give aid to an injured driver, 20 feet from the vehicle in a cold puddle of water.
Sgt. Parker stops and exits his car to assist anyone in need and finds himself soaked, giving the clothes off his back to keep the driver as dry as he could on a very cold and wet ground. Waiting until help arrives, Sgt. Parker goes through what he has trained for in first aid.
“Weather-wise it was a pretty bad day out, it was sleeting and raining pretty good,” Parker said. “So, it probably wasn’t the best to be driving...”
“I was on my way home from work around 5:15 pm and right before the Adam’s Center exit, there was actually another car crash. It had hit a tree, but there were two people outside of that vehicle and another parked on the side of the road. So, I didn’t stop for that one. Then, a mile away from the Mannsville exit where I live in there was another car stopped on the side road left of the highway. A van was on its side smoking and the horn was going off. So, I stopped pretty much right in front of it,” Explained Parker.
“I felt very calm and knew what I was doing to help the best that I could,” Parker said. “Obviously I’m not a medical professional, but I knew enough to try to help prevent further injuries.”
Both Parker’s First Sgt. and Commander expressed their confidence in Sgt. Parker’s abilities and character. Speaking to his qualities as a humble and capable Non-Commissioned Officer, First Sgt. Thomas Brussel the senior Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge, and Cpt. Antario Rapier, Commander to Echo Company, could not have been more assured.
“Sgt. Parker, he’s one of the best NCO’s, always doing the right thing, he does not like recognition,” First Sgt. Brussel said. “He just really kills it every day at work. So, seeing him recognized, even if he doesn’t like it is something we kind of want to push for.”
As his actions of personal courage are the example for many, Sgt. Parker exhibited the true characteristic of selfless service.
“So, Sgt. Parker has always been one of my best NCO’s,” Cpt. Rapier said. “He’s somebody that you can give a task to and just turn away. He is a natural born leader, and I would say he is a leader of men not just Soldiers. People follow him.”
Minimal though his actions were the impact Sgt. Parker made echoes through the formation of Echo Company and through the 10th Mountain.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2024 14:51 |
| Story ID: | 469975 |
| Location: | WATERTOWN, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | GARRISON, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 2,827 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Drum Soldier Saves a Life, by SSG Osvaldo Martinez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
