Marines find place in Hall of Heroes

[thedrifter]

Marines find place in Hall of Heroes
Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Story Identification Number: 2003520195424
Story by Cpl. Ryan D. Libbert



CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa, Japan(May 21, 2003) -- Faster than a speeding bullet? No. More powerful than a locomotive? Negative. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Guess again. They are not birds, they are not planes and they are not 'supermen.' They are U.S. Marines.

But being ordinary mortals doesn't stop Sgt. Kenneth M. Blankenship, Explosive Ordinance Disposal technician with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Force Service Support Group, and Sgt. Joel W. Johnson, Light Armored Vehicle mechanic with 3rd Material Readiness Battalion, 3rd FSSG, from performing acts of heroism.

For these two Devildogs, a weekend scuba diving trip turned into an afternoon of aquatic danger for one Okinawan man.

"We were gearing up for a dive at Bolo Point when we first heard a woman trying to get our attention," Blankenship recalls. "We started looking around and noticed her and other fishermen on the surrounding rocks pointing to something in the water off in the distance."

As the ordeal continued, Blankenship and Johnson swam against a strong current to reach what they found to be an injured man.

"When we got to him, the man was unconscious and had some blood dripping from his mouth," the Hilliard, Ohio native added. "I think what had happened was that the guy had made an uncontrolled assent and caused an embolism."

The two Marines paddled back to dry land while trying to keep the man's head above water. After the strenuous trip, many people were around to help and call paramedics to the scene, Johnson said.

"Once the (Emergency Medical Technicians) arrived, we tried to help them," the Bradford, Penn. native said. "We took turns holding the oxygen mask to his face while the other stripped his wetsuit off, because the heat wasn?t doing him much good."

That was the last time either Marine saw the unknown man. No contact has been made between him and the two Marines, but both are quite curious to know his condition.

"I've been trying to find out the guy's status for the past couple of days," Blankenship stated. "I've made several phone calls but with no luck."

As for their status as 'heroes,' both Blankenship and Johnson just roll off any remarks made to them about being an 'American idol.'

"We did what anyone else would've done in that situation," Johnson declared. "Once we started out there towards him, our adrenaline was kicking in so hard that we didn't even think about going back, much less think about the dangers from the current or the sharks might have on our own lives."

Now that the ordeal is over, both Marines have found that there are plenty of things in the world that can do harm. They may not have to worry about Kryptonite, but there are still plenty of dangers lurking about to cause fatalities.

"I guess the biggest lesson we learned is that accidents like this happen to everybody," Johnson concluded. "No one is bulletproof."


Sempers,

Roger