26th MEU Sailors save Djiboutian man

DJIBOUTI

06.06.2013

Courtesy Story

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable)     

DJIBOUTI – U.S. Navy corpsmen assigned to Battalion Landing Team 3/2, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, revived a young Djiboutian man on Arta Beach, Djibouti, May 23.

26th MEU Marines and Sailors conducting convoy operations were flagged down by local nationals to help with an apparent drowning victim. Two Navy corpsmen from BLT 3/2, Chief Petty Officer Adrian Figueroa and Petty Officer 3rd Class James Haddenham, immediately assisted a young male victim who was unconscious and not breathing on Arta Beach.

The corpsmen on the scene were able to resuscitate the young man and, with the help of French military medical personnel in the vicinity, immediately transport him to Arta City Hospital – where he was given a prognosis for recovery.

Witnesses also said a female victim was still missing and in the water. The French military launched a search and rescue boat to find the missing female victim. Unfortunately, her body was not found until the next day.

“The actions of our corpsmen on the beach were heroic and epitomize the phrase „no better friend‟ that is often attributed to Marines,” said Col. Matthew G. St. Clair, 26th MEU commanding officer. “I am extremely proud of what they did to provide critical life-saving care to the local Djiboutian youth.”

To maintain mission readiness, the 26th MEU is currently conducting unit and bilateral training ashore in Djibouti, where Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa is located at Camp Lemonnier.

The 26th MEU is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force forward-deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility aboard the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group serving as a sea-based, expeditionary crisis response force capable of conducting amphibious operations.

• Date Taken: 06.06.2013
• Date Posted: 06.06.2013 09:35
• Story ID: 108151
• Location: DJ