Photo By Lance Cpl. Harleigh Faulk | U.S. Marine Corps First Lt. Max Goldberg, left, and Maj. Michael Farnan, both defense...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – In the middle of a sun-casted day on Feb. 7, three U.S. Marine officers were walking to the Desert Botanical Garden on the streets of Phoenix when they caught a glance of a woman on the side of a bus stop, folded at the hip with her head planted in between her splayed legs on the pavement.
“Obviously, something was wrong,” said First Lt. Max Goldberg, a military defense council judge advocate for the National Capital Region, based on Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Maj. Michael Farnan, also a defense council for the same location, added, “she was folded like a sandwich, which people don’t naturally sit that way.”
The Marines were in Phoenix for the annual Defense Services Worldwide Training conference, when they noticed a small group of people around this bus station from far away. Phoenix is a very flat terrain, allowing people to see for a “country mile,” as Fernan expressed. This small group, as the Marines got closer, appeared to be part of the homeless population, which was not uncommon to see in the area. As they approached the group, they noticed the woman in her unnatural position.
“Two other bystanders were attempting to sit her up, but her whole body had gone limp, and she kept collapsing on the ground,” said Capt. Harald Kirn, a judge advocate with Legal Services Support Team, Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California.
“… it was hard to tell if they were trying to help her,” Goldberg admitted, explaining it also seemed like the bystanders were also trying to make it seem like nothing was wrong.
Kirn suggested it was an overdose, something he had seen before through second-hand experiences, so Farnan quickly called emergency medical services while Kirn assessed the woman’s condition—she had a feint pulse and shallow breathing at this point—and Goldberg searched for Narcan, an opioid antagonist, to stimulate the limp woman.
There was another woman nearby, who Goldberg spoke to while helping the unresponsive woman.
“She had a clear, plastic backpack that had a lot of stuff in it,” he said, and asked if she had Narcan, to which she replied, “’maybe.’”
He searched through the bag, found the Narcan and administered it through her nose.
Kirn and Goldberg said her breathing and pulse both immediately strengthened.
Farnan gave directions to EMS and waved them down as he saw them.
According to the Marines, it only took a few minutes for emergency services to get to the location.
As soon as EMS arrived, they took control of the woman. The three men provided emergency services with critical information on her condition and steps taken to help her.
As EMS prepared to leave, they told the Marines they probably saved the woman’s life.
Then, as quickly as everything happened, it seemed to just-as-quickly end.
The three Marines resumed their walk to the garden.
Ahead of them, though, was the woman who supplied the Narcan.
Walking pretty slowly, the woman went into the gas station, where the Marines also ended up.
“I had all these fluids on my hands,” said Goldberg, who wanted to wash his hands at the gas station.
He began talking to the woman, asking about how she received Narcan, which was supplied by a community program, something Goldberg is familiar with because of his mother, who works in public health is familiar with homeless populations.
As a thank you to the woman and her help, Goldberg asked if she wanted anything from the gas station, buying her some snacks.
He said to her “’… pick whatever you want, because you saved this woman’s life,’” which after this point, they continued with their day to the Botanical Garden.
The Marine officers were impacted by this situation in a profound way; it’s two months after their life-saving actions now, but since that moment, they thought about their lives, society, and the Marine Corps and how it made them prepared for that moment.
“We’ve seen people strung out all week,” Goldberg said, explaining the homeless population in the area, alluding to ailments of drug usage in among the population. The first time he was in Phoenix, he watched as a dead person was loaded into an ambulance, but this time, he—and the two other Marines—prevented that from occurring again that day.
Farnan explained that “there wasn’t a ton of time to think through what you were doing. You just know what the right thing to do is.”
Goldberg added, saying “sometimes you’re not necessarily the best equipped to handle a situation,” saying a person may not have what they need to help a situation. Fortunately, as he explained, they were able to help because they had the Narcan, but most importantly, the actions of each Marine influenced the other to save this woman’s life.
Kirn, a California native, admitted he felt a hesitation for “two seconds” and was inspired by the immediacy of Goldberg in particular, snapping him back to the moment to help; however, neither Farnan or Goldberg noticed any hesitation from Kirn, and felt the same way he felt, but about him—they inspired each other.
“It is easy to do the right thing when you’re surrounded by other people who are also doing the right thing,” Farnan, who served about 10 years so far, explained. “One of the advantages of being a Marine is that you’re surrounded by people who are signed up to do a ‘good thing.’”
Goldberg added, “That situation prompted me to think about what the Marine Corps has given me.”
Also a California native, Goldberg suggested he may not have made the same life-saving actions if he never became a Marine.
“Marines are taught to be we’re more than just ourselves,” he said. “Resist that modern temptation to just walk by—pause for a moment, even if you don’t know them, and if someone needs help, you should stop what you’re doing and help them.”
On a final note, Kirn explained that people may blame the results of people’s lives on their decisions but expressed that, “We are products of our environment and our community. In the same way that some people are not given a body medically qualified to join the armed forces, some aren’t given the community and support necessary to build a ‘good’ life. We have a collective responsibility to others and someone else’s suffering shouldn’t become an excuse to deprive someone of it.”
On April 10, Farnan and Goldberg were awarded an impact Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for their life-saving actions and selfless duty to another person in need, on MCB Quantico. Kirn was awarded his impact Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his actions on April 8, at his unit in California.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2025 14:50 |
| Story ID: | 495036 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 8,556 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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