Marine amputee finishes tops at Army jump school

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: December 29, 2003

A high standard
Marine amputee finishes tops at Army jump school

By William H. McMichael
Times staff writer

NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. ? It was a great day for a handful of Marines who had spent months hunting al-Qaida terrorists. A day off, even in cold, dusty Afghanistan, was worth savoring.
?We got wool socks,? Sgt. Christopher Chandler recalled. ?Up to two MREs. The CIA brought us a case of Pepsi. And a cigarette.?

Chandler didn?t get a chance to light up. Minutes later, he was walking down a path with 10 other Marines to provide security for an explosive-ordnance disposal team helping clear Kandahar airport, seized just days before. It was Dec. 16, 2001. He remembers what happened as if it were yesterday.

?My third step is when I stepped on the mine,? he said.

Chandler ? a corporal then ? lost his left foot and lower calf. Twenty-three months later, Chandler, wearing an advanced prosthetic, passed the Marine Corps physical-fitness test, ensuring he could remain on active duty.

Last month, Chandler completed the Army?s Basic Airborne Course, better known as jump school, at Fort Benning, Ga., where he was the honor graduate of his class.

And in January, Chandler rejoins the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., as a Marine scout.

Jump school, he said, was a ?confidence builder,? a stair step toward rejoining his old outfit and trying out for the demanding Marine Force Reconnaissance.

?I was happy with myself for having done it,? the modest Marine said at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Atlantic in Norfolk, Va., before checking out, flying to visit his family in Colorado and then moving on to California.

The top NCO in his jump school company, however, minced no words in reflecting on Chandler and his achievement.

?He was an outstanding Marine,? said Army 1st Sgt. Ligmon Williams of Company A, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. ?And he set the standard for every American fighting man. And I?m talking about all of DoD.?

Chandler, 23, has proven himself ever since joining the Corps in 1998 out of Aurora, Colo., where he played high school basketball as well as the violin and viola. ?I didn?t want to go to college,? he said. He wanted to join the Marines because ?they were the best.?

After completing infantry training, Chandler was assigned to ?8th and I,? the Marine Barracks Washington D.C., as a member of the ceremonial unit. The 6-foot-2-inch Marine downplays the selection, saying, ?I think it was because we were tall.? He would rather have gone to a line unit, he said.

In 2000, Chandler, by then a lance corporal, was assigned to 1st LAR and began taking part in workups for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit?s deployment, a scheduled Western Pacific cruise that began in August 2001. He worked as a dismounted scout for the unit?s Light Armored Vehicles.

Chandler sailed west on the amphibious assault ship Peleliu. The unit had just finished training in Australia when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took place. The mood aboard ship was somber, he recalled, for two reasons: A lot of Marines had friends or family who had been touched by the attacks. And the leathernecks knew where they were headed.

?Blood and dirt?

In late November, the unit hit the beach in Pakistan aboard air-cushioned landing craft. Chandler was 20 years old.

?It was surreal,? he said.

The unit ended up at Camp Rhino in southern Afghanistan.

It was just past noon on Dec. 16 when the 11 Marines started down that path toward two anti-aircraft guns the EOD team wanted to destroy.

When the mine exploded, Chandler immediately was knocked down and became disoriented.

?I didn?t know what happened,? he said. ?I thought we were being attacked. There was lots of dust. I was in shock. I remember seeing the guy in front of me lying on top of one of the EOD guys. I tried to grab my rifle, but I couldn?t make a fist.? His left hand had been mangled in the explosion. When he looked at it, he said, ?It was just blood and dirt.?

Then, he tried to push himself up with his left leg. He couldn?t. ?But I still wasn?t putting two and two together,? Chandler said.

After the third try, he looked down. ?And then I saw that I didn?t have a foot,? he said.

The team was also stuck, and highly vulnerable.

?Obviously, we were in a minefield,? he said. ?The EOD guys had to probe to find a clear path back out.?

A corpsman arrived and bandaged Chandler. Then, before he knew it, he was being medevaced to a field hospital, then flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

?It still didn?t hurt until I got up in the C-5,? he said. Then, it hurt plenty.

It was the first serious injury suffered by a Marine since the landing three weeks earlier. The mine left two other Marines wounded by shrapnel; one suffered an injured hand, the other a perforated eardrum.

Back in action

Chandler lost his left leg from a point about even with the top of a combat boot. He was transferred from Landstuhl to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and then to Ohio, where he was outfitted with the Ohio Willowood Pathfinder prosthetic, which attaches to the remainder of Chandler?s leg via suction. On March 3, 2002, he flew to California to see his unit return from combat.

In April 2002, he was attached to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center for follow-up care and occupational therapy on his hand, under the guidance of Navy orthopedic surgeon Capt. Dan Unger. Even as he received this care, Chandler served as a Marine liaison during his stay, assisting Marines injured during combat and making ?frequent trips up to Bethesda and Walter Reed to visit with injured Marines,? Unger said.

Chandler earned a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his service.

However, the Corps was about to cut Chandler loose because he?d lost a limb, a regulatory requirement that rarely is overruled, Unger said.

The following spring, the Marine was assigned to Headquarters and Service Company for Marine Forces Atlantic.

Chandler gave the Marine PT test a try. He ran three miles in 29 minutes, one minute slower than the required minimum. As a result, Chandler?s previous commanding officer could not recommend him fit for duty, according to Maj. Tom Stephens, who assumed command of the company in June. Chandler?s first request to remain on active duty, Unger said, was denied by the Navy Physical Evaluation Board.

But Chandler pressed on.

?I ran five times a week,? he said. His perseverance paid off when he passed the PT test three months after his initial failure.

Stephens was impressed and, at the urging of Unger, wrote an endorsement to Unger?s report to the medical-review board.

The young Marine ?certainly displayed the heart,? Stephens said. ?Most importantly, he wanted to be a Marine.?

Said the appreciative Chandler, ?This command was looking out for me.?

Armed with medical and command recommendations, Chandler made a personal appearance before the medical review board to appeal the earlier denial. If he?d been discharged, Chandler says he would have qualified for a 60 percent disability.

The board approved his request to remain on full active-duty without restrictions.

Another hurdle

Keeping Chandler in the Corps was one thing. Getting him a seat at jump school, a first-term re-enlistment incentive, was another. By definition, Chandler was not medically suitable for airborne training. And because it is an Army school, Army as well as Navy medical personnel had to approve his application for the training.

Ultimately, all agreed that Chandler was capable, and he was on his way.

?They were supportive as long as he didn?t pose a danger to himself or others,? Stephens said.

Chandler was appreciative of the efforts others made to ensure his request was heard.

?If one person had said no during that whole process, I wouldn?t have gone,? Chandler said, a touch of amazement in his voice.

At Fort Benning, Chandler made a big impression on his Army trainers.

?We didn?t realize he had a prosthetic until we had our second PT run,? said Sgt. 1st Class James Dennis, Chandler?s jump school platoon sergeant.

Chandler, Dennis said, was ?highly motivated ? just like you?d expect a Marine to be.? He added that, as far as he knows, Chandler was the first person ever to attend Army jump school wearing a prosthetic.

Chandler handled the physical demands, which include passing the Army PT test under the standards for 17-to-21-year-olds and completing 3.2-, 4- and 5-mile unit training runs. He also made the requisite five qualification jumps from Air Force planes during the third and final week of the course.

It was the first jump, though, that posed the greatest psychological barrier for the Marine. When he landed, he said, his first thought was, ?I?m on the ground and nothing?s broken.?

Stephens, Chandler?s commanding officer, is not surprised by Chandler?s success.

?He inspires motivation [in] others by his quiet demeanor,? he said. ?He never asked for a special favor. When he goes out there and he?s running faster than other Marines who have two healthy legs ... he offers a lot of inspiration to others, whether he realizes it or not.

?There is no limitation on what he can or can?t do.?

Chandler?s not setting any limits.

?I want to deploy,? he said. ?I think the greatest thing the Marine Corps has done for me is letting me lead other Marines. You help them, and you help yourself.?

At the same time, he said, ?You have to help yourself before anybody can help you.?

He?ll take his Marine Corps career ?four years at a time,? he said. In 20 years, Chandler sees himself moving to Montana to hunt, fish and ?be a trail guy.?

But for now, he said with a grin, ?I?ll be a scout again.?

William H. McMichael covers the Navy from Hampton Roads, Va. Staff writer Gordon Lubold contributed to this report.


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Sempers,

Roger