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A True Hero On The Battlefield
November 6, 2008
Our military men and women live by certain standards, a code of conduct or code of ethics if you will. In the Army, it’s the Warrior Ethos. Our Troops exemplify this in their professional lives, with how they deal with Soldiers who may be their superiors or those whom they lead. They exemplify this in the way they conduct their personal lives as well. When they go to combat, their actions under fire are what can really define them as a Soldier. Will they freeze under fire, or will they do whatever is necessary, to ensure the safety of themselves and their fellow soldiers.
Vice Chief of Staff of the Army General Peter W. Chiarelli presents the Distinguished Service Cross to Staff Sgt. Christopher B. Waiters Oct. 23 during a ceremony at Soldiers Field House. Photo by Phil Sussman
On October 23rd, the former commander for 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division returned to Fort Lewis, Washington for a very special occasion. He was there to pin the nation’s second highest award for valor on the chest of one of the Soldiers he led, one of the brigade’s medics.1
Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, General Peter Chiarelli, presented the Distinguished Service Cross to SSG Christopher B. Waiters. The award was on the 17th such award since the Vietnam War. Currently Waiters is stationed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He returned to Fort Lewis on October 23 to receive the award that was earned by him on April 5, 2007. At the time he was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment as a combat medic. The ceremony was held that day at Soldiers Field House. His entire former brigade was present to witness the award.
According to General Chiarelli, Waiters set an example of the “very best of military values; loyalty, selfless service, and personal courage.’ His sense of duty to his fellow Soldiers led him to pull wounded comrades out of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle without regard for his personal safety. His sense of duty to his fellow Soldiers, is the embodiment of what most every Soldier strives for. On the date of the incident, Waiters was then a specialist. His response to a vehicle borne IED that was catastropic saved lives.
According to accounts, Waiters fought his way to the scene, killing two insurgents. He exposed himself to enemy fire, when he ran across 80 meters of open ground between his vehicle and the disabled Bradley to pull two crewmen out of the Bradley, which was in flames. Waiters said that he had never seen a Distinguished Service Cross when he heard that he’d been recommended for the award.
“I had to go look up the picture of a DSC on the internet,” he said.
“It’s an honor to receive it,” Waiters said. “I was doing what I was trained to do. That’s what I was there for.”
We are lucky in this country to have men and women like SSG Waiters, who are willing to risk their own safety, to ensure the lives of their fellow Soldiers. Men and women like him, are people we should look up to and they are the type of people that we should teach our children to look up to. Not the celebrities, the musicians and athletes that our children often look up to and hope to emulate.
- http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/10/30/13769-medic-a-true-hero-on-battlefield/index.html [↩]
- http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/10/30/13769-medic-a-true-hero-on-battlefield/index.html [↩]
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Our warriors never cease to amaze me. Congratulations Staff Sgt. Christopher B. Waiters. You are a true hero!