By: U.S. Army 1st Lt. Bradlee Spudic
204th Brigade Support Battalion
2nd Brigade Combat Team
4th Infantry Division
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Staff Sgt. Marcus Reid, a combat medic with the Personal Security Detachment, 204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division treated an Afghan boy injured in an explosion June 10.
“It means a lot to me that I am able to affect the community through my skills as a combat medic,” Reid said.
Soldiers in Reid’s unit came across the injured boy while they were conducting a routine reconnaissance and surveillance patrol around Forward Operating Base Walton.
As the patrol approached a group of children, the Rough Rider soldiers noticed one of the children had a severely infected gash on his forehead. With permission from his father, Reid cleaned, applied antibiotics and dressed the wound.
While the boy was being treated, Staff Sgt. Terry Elekes and Staff Sgt. Bryan Cook, FOB Walton’s base defense non-commissioned officers in charge, asked the boy’s father about his injuries.
According to his father, there was an explosion that hurled debris, struck the boy in the face and left him injured. The man was vague about where the explosion occurred, but he did provide some information about the area.
The soldiers gave bandages and water to the boy’s father to ensure the wound would be treated properly, and he thanked them before they returned to FOB Walton.
“It is constantly enforced in our unit that what we choose to do today affects what the Afghan citizens do tomorrow,” Reid said.