MCB HAWAII -- Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Pollock, hospital corpsman, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, didn’t want his Purple Heart.
A native of Boston, Pollock was unconscious for two days because of an improvised explosive device attack in Afghanistan. He said he was ashamed at first, because he felt others had worse injuries, and the unit had also lost several members. But after a heart to heart talk with his father and time, he wears it with pride.
“It’s not just for me,” Pollock said. “It’s for the other guys [who] were killed or seriously injured.”
Pollock is one of many corpsmen who deploy with Marine Corps units as a “green side” corpsman.
Yesterday, more than 200 hospital corpsmen aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii celebrated the establishment of the Navy Hospital Corps.
Throughout history and today, corpsmen have been administering medical checkups, dressing wounds and supporting the Marine Corps and the Navy. Those who work with Marine Corps units and regularly deploy with them are called green side corpsmen. Corpsmen who work at clinics on bases and ships are called “blue side” corpsmen.
“Hospital corpsmen are very important to the mission because not only do they provide aid to the injured, and save lives, they’re a morale booster,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Donald Oliver Jr., senior enlisted leader, 3rd Marine Regiment, of Wichita, Kan. “Knowing that your ‘doc’ or your corpsman’s right there, it’s almost like having a safety helmet when you ride a bike. You’re going to go a little bit faster, push a little bit harder because you know ‘doc’s’ going to take care of you.”
Some sailors, like Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeremy Garner, hospital corpsman, 2/3, enlisted in the Navy not knowing they would be a corpsman.
“It’s a very interesting role because you’re almost in two services,” Garner said of being a green side corpsman.
Garner, of Jackson, Tenn., said being a green side corpsman gave him “two sets” of everything, from bosses to uniforms.
At 18, Pollock originally planned to be in the Coast Guard. But since his enlistment in the Navy in January 2007, he has grown fond of the Marines.
“[My parents have] been really supportive,” Pollock said. “I’ve done really well here.”
Pollock became designated as a Fleet Marine Force corpsman, and volunteered to work for the 3rd Marine Division.
“Your first kind of interaction with FMF corpsmen is that they’re larger than life,” Pollock said. “I decided that this is what I wanted to do.”
Approximately 60 green side hospital corpsmen deploy with a Marine Corps unit at a time. Blue side hospital corpsmen do deploy, but as individual augmentees.
Petty Officer 1st Class Andrew Jenkins, assistant lead petty officer, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, recently returned with the advance party from a six month deployment in Afghanistan. There, he was able to treat children. He remembers helping one young girl with a chest wound caused by shrapnel.
“She tolerated it very well,” Jenkins, of White Cloud, Mich.
Garner deployed to Afghanistan with 2/3 in May of 2009.
“It feels like time stops because you don’t know anything except what’s going on right then,” Garner said of deployment.
During his third patrol in Afghanistan, one of the four vehicles in his convoy hit an improvised explosive device. He was hurt while helping his comrades, when fire ignited a gas tank and set off more than 200 grenades.
“It was a very emotional experience,” Garner said.
Pollock deployed twice, once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan with 2/3. As part of 2/3, Pollock helped rebuild schools and mosques, while training local Iraqi police officers and going on missions.
“The best thing about being a corpsman with the Marines is you’re a Marine first,” Pollock said. “You have your rifle; you’re part of the mission, not just somebody waiting in the back, waiting for something to go wrong.”
What he will remember from this deployment, however, is the loss of both his company commander, Capt. Philip J. Dykeman, and battalion commander, Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, to a suicide bomber. Pollock, who was one of eight people to retrieve his commanders and send them to the coroner, said he recalls the sights and smells of being there on the front lines.
Today, Pollock has several “killed in action” bracelets at home, one in particular bearing his company commander’s name, and takes time each day to look at them.
“[The memorial services] just kind of reminded me that you never know when something like that is going to happen,” Pollock said. “So you have to stay vigilant and be ready to do what you need to do.”
Pollock said one of the hardest aspects of being a hospital corpsman is seeing fellow comrades injured.
Even when not deployed, there is still much work to be done. Jenkins said corpsmen must make sure all Marines have all medical issues resolved and attend their regular dental appointments before deployment.
“When you’re not deployed, it’s all about medical readiness,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said as a corpsman, he feels empowered through his job.
“I like the fact that I feel prepared to take on anything, both medically and physically,” Jenkins said. “The challenges that come with the Navy and especially being in the Marine Corps, it gives you all the tools that you really ever need to survive in any situation.”
The Navy Hospital Corps was officially established in June 17, 1898, although personnel with medical duties have existed as early as the 1700s, during the Revolutionary War, according to “The U.S. Navy Hospital Corps: A Century of Tradition, Valor, and Sacrifice” by Mark T. Hacala.