bobdina
07-05-2010, 10:13 AM
The Afghan soldier in front of Lt Anrude, 25, took five rounds in his legs while Lt Anrude was shot in the arm and received fragmentation wounds in his leg.
Over four and a half hours, the Marine tended the wounds of the Afghan fighter while co-ordinating a medical evacuation. Then he carried the wounded man to a safe landing spot for the helicopter.
"We were trying to talk with a village elder at the back of a mosque when an insurgent came round the corner and fired 20 to 30 rounds at us from about 15 metres away. The majority of the rounds went into the deck and then sprayed up towards us," he said. "At first I didn't really notice that I'd been shot in the arm, I was just reacting to what was happening on the ground. As soon as the Afghan went down I returned fire. My main priority was to get the wounded out, obviously myself being one of them, so I started dragging the [Afghan soldier] into cover and out of danger."
"I was very lucky. It was quite a surreal experience. I didn't know I'd been shot in the arm. My legs hurt a bit but my main priority was to get the casualty out."
Lt Col Paul James, the commanding officer of 40 Cdo, had high praise for the officer. "Jack Anrude was hit in the arm, in the head and legs yet he still carried on commanding his troops. He personally evacuated the Afghan soldier by carrying him up a hill. It was an extraordinary act of courage and he did all that while he was wounded."
"What the guys are going through here, it's quite humbling to see how the young lads are taking it on. It's very frustrating at times but the guys are excelling and it's testing their soldiering to the extreme."
Over four and a half hours, the Marine tended the wounds of the Afghan fighter while co-ordinating a medical evacuation. Then he carried the wounded man to a safe landing spot for the helicopter.
"We were trying to talk with a village elder at the back of a mosque when an insurgent came round the corner and fired 20 to 30 rounds at us from about 15 metres away. The majority of the rounds went into the deck and then sprayed up towards us," he said. "At first I didn't really notice that I'd been shot in the arm, I was just reacting to what was happening on the ground. As soon as the Afghan went down I returned fire. My main priority was to get the wounded out, obviously myself being one of them, so I started dragging the [Afghan soldier] into cover and out of danger."
"I was very lucky. It was quite a surreal experience. I didn't know I'd been shot in the arm. My legs hurt a bit but my main priority was to get the casualty out."
Lt Col Paul James, the commanding officer of 40 Cdo, had high praise for the officer. "Jack Anrude was hit in the arm, in the head and legs yet he still carried on commanding his troops. He personally evacuated the Afghan soldier by carrying him up a hill. It was an extraordinary act of courage and he did all that while he was wounded."
"What the guys are going through here, it's quite humbling to see how the young lads are taking it on. It's very frustrating at times but the guys are excelling and it's testing their soldiering to the extreme."