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Actions Earn Army Reserve Soldier DoD Soldier’s Medal

August 30, 2008

Because of the actions of an Army Reserve Soldier on a busy Texas interstate highway, one man is alive and the Soldier has been awarded the DoD Soldier’s Medal. She doesn’t feel that she did anything special, however, her actions enabled a victim of an accident to live. The man and his family are grateful for her actions. More often than not, our Troops react to situations with courage, bravery, and valor.

When she saw the body slam into the ground in front of her car on the freeway, the first thing on the mind of SSG Jacqueline L. Hunt’s mind was to do what she could to help the man out. As she was driving home from a party with friends around midnight on March 17, 2005, near Fort Worth, a man pulled his vehicle onto the side of the road, stepped out of the car and got hit by a passing truck.

“I was the designated driver … when he landed in front of me,” she said. “I put on the emergency brake, and ran to him. Some semis were coming, so I picked him up and moved him to the shoulder,” Hunt explained. She further stated that the man was almost twice her size, but she lifted him and carried him to the side of the road. She feels like the adrenalin coursing through her body, was what enabled her to do so. She then began assessing and treating his injuries.1

The man had severe head injuries and wasn’t breathing. She told her friends to call 911. A semi driver pulled over to help as well. To protect the scene, he parked his truck to block the scene and erected road barriers. According to Hunt, paramedics who responded told her that the man might have died, had she not been there to render aid. The following day, Hunt contacted the family of the victim, explaining to them what happened and providing support to them.

Hunt feels that because of the training she has received, as well as the experiences she had in Iraq, she was able to have the presence of mind and knowledge of how to treat the man’s injuries, which were serious and life threatening. She never thought to keep going, instead of stopping to render aid. Because of her job in a Civil Affairs unit, having a sense of compassion for community, is commonplace to her.

“You must have compassion because your number one priority is the community. You’re dealing with people, not numbers. We’re always thinking about that and what to do to help.”2

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Staff Sgt. Jacqueline L. Hunt is awarded the Department of Defense Soldier\'s Medal by Maj. Gen. Alan D. Bell, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, on August 22, 2008. Hunt earned the honor for saving the life of a traffic accident victim who had serious, complex, and life-threatening injuries. She is an Army Reserve Civil Affairs Soldier with the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and assigned to the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, located in Abilene, Texas. Photo by Sgt. Sharilyn Wells

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Staff Sgt. Jacqueline L. Hunt is awarded the Department of Defense Soldier's Medal by Maj. Gen. Alan D. Bell, Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, on August 22, 2008. Hunt earned the honor for saving the life of a traffic accident victim who had serious, complex, and life-threatening injuries. She is an Army Reserve Civil Affairs Soldier with the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and assigned to the 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, located in Abilene, Texas. Photo by Sgt. Sharilyn Wells

On Friday, August 22nd, Hunt was awarded the DoD Soldier’s Medal for her actions, by Army Reserve Command, Maj General Alan D Bell and the commanding general for the US Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, (Airborne) Maj. General David A Morris, in a special ceremony at the Special Operations Museum near Fort Bragg.

“SSG Hunt has taken to heart her training and combat experience, and has used it in the most positive way to give back to the victim and his family, to her unit and to her community,” said Morris.3

Since the accident, Hunt has remained in contact with the victim and his family. She feels that this experience has helped her to teach her Soldiers to do what is right, despite the situation with which they’re faced, saying that her priority is to make sure her Soldiers think about what the right thing to do is, and then act on that.

While she is honored to receive the Soldier’s Medal, which is the 7th highest medal that can be awarded to US Soldiers, this one given in recognition of actions not involving actual combat, Hunt doesn’t want others to forget the fact that there are Soldiers currently still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. To her, she was just doing her job, as any other Soldier would in the same circumstancese.

“I really don’t want to be called a hero because I don’t want to take away from what our Soldiers are doing downrange,” she said. “This is my job. This is every Soldiers job.”4

This is an award that was and is well deserved. Our Soldiers so often, think about the welfare of others, before they think of themselves. Many of our Troops, do things like this, with no thought to receiving accolades, but instead, because they feel that it’s the right thing to do.

  1. http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/08/22/11851-civil-affairs-soldier-earns-soldiers-medal/ [↩]
  2. http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/08/22/11851-civil-affairs-soldier-earns-soldiers-medal/ [↩]
  3. http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/08/22/11851-civil-affairs-soldier-earns-soldiers-medal/ [↩]
  4. http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/08/22/11851-civil-affairs-soldier-earns-soldiers-medal/ [↩]

Written by Terri · Filed Under Warrior Spotlight 

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