Sergeant Brendan Marrrocco, Veteran; U.S. Army (Retired)
The story of one of our Nation’s great veterans; a 4-limb amputee persevering through adversity with the moral virtue of character’s “strength of the gut”
Consider the story of Army veteran, Brendan Marrocco. One of the deadliest threats to soldiers in Iraq was the explosive formed projectile (EFP), a shaped charge designed to penetrate armor by deforming a metal plate into an armor slug. It is used along with other roadside bombs, also called improvised explosive devices, or “IED’s.”
On the evening of 11 April 2009, the night before Easter Sunday, a patrol in Salah ad Din province, Iraq, was returning to their base when the last vehicle in the convoy triggered an EFP which immediately penetrated the driver’s door of a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (commonly known as an “MRAP”). MRAP’s are armor protected and designed to protect occupants against many of the IED explosives our adversaries were using. As the war progressed, the enemy developed the armor penetrating EFP into a roadside IED, and as designed, when it hit the armored door of the MRAP, it penetrated, creating deadly medal spray inside of the vehicle. As it entered the driver’s side, it tore into the driver’s arms and legs, severed the artery of the soldier in the gunner’s hatch, and injured the soldier in the vehicle commander’s seat.
The driver was then Private First-Class Brendan Marrocco, a great soldier from Queens, New York. Brendan’s injuries were significant. Both his arms and legs were amputated. The artery in his neck was severed. There were significant injuries to his face, including a broken eye socket and nose, the loss of eight teeth, shrapnel in his eye and face, severe lacerations, and burns to his neck and face. And his left eardrum was pierced. When the attack occurred, the unit immediately called for a medevac to Tikrit, where the Combat Support Hospital (CSH) was located. Unfortunately, there was a dust storm, and the initial weather call would not support a helicopter flying to the attack site. MEDEVAC pilots will take the weather call as a recommendation, but knowing the severity of the attack, and the fact that three lives were at stake, they knew how critical their role was in getting these soldiers safely to the proper medical care as soon as possible. So, without hesitation, knowing the risks of flying at night in the middle of a dust storm, the pilots cranked up the helicopter for the 45-minute flight to the attack site, loaded all the injured soldiers, including Brendan, and 45 minutes later, flew to the CSH hospital in Tikrit Iraq.
Upon arrival at the hospital, the Soldier with the severed artery had already passed, and the medical team was doing all they could to save the life of the driver — Brendan Marrocco. Word quickly spread across the base that an injured soldier needed blood transfusions and at least 150 soldiers lined up throughout the night willing to donate blood to keep their brother-in-arms alive. The team of medical experts worked feverishly to save Brendan’s life. A couple hours later, they rolled Brendan into the recovery room. He was alive, but the drastic measures needed to save his life left him with no arms and no legs. His head was wrapped in gauze, covered by a blanket to keep him warm. Brendan was still not awake (he did not awake until a few days later when he finally got to Walter Reed — the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center), but the care and compassion coming from the medical team were overwhelming. Brendan received 59 pints of blood donated by his teammates throughout the night.
When I heard of the MEDEVAC, I quickly went to the CSH to support the medical team and the MEDEVAC pilots for the life saving measures that were taking. I remember standing in the recovery room when they rolled Brendan out and spoke with the doctors who labored furiously to save his life. And I’ll never forget them telling me that their job was to save his life, and that they did whatever it took throughout the night to indeed make that happen. They were amazing, and I will never forget their professionalism, their commitment and their passion for their injured brother-in-arms.
Soon afterwards, the medical team determined that Brendan needed upgraded care at another hospital in Balad, which was located with a 45-minute MEDEVAC flight outside of Baghdad. The dust storm was still going on, and the zero visibility conditions would not allow air control to give a green light for the flight to Balad. Nonetheless, the medevac team and inflight nurse kitted-up and without question, loaded Brendan in the helicopter and flew him another 45 minutes to Balad where he received another 18 pints of blood and additional care. Brendan was shortly moved to Landstuhl, Germany, and then to Walter Reed, where he finally regained consciousness a few days after his arrival.
About a month after his injury, I was on my mid-tour R&R and stopped by Walter Reed to visit our wounded Soldiers including Brendan Marrocco. I did not know what to expect walking into Brendan’s hospital room, but as I walked in, Brendan was sitting in a chair, full of spunk and energy, telling me he wanted to fly to Hawaii (where we were originally stationed before deploying to Iraq) when our unit returned from Iraq and wanted to greet them all on their return. I told him we’d love to have him there if he was allowed to attend, and this spunky Soldier told me that whatever it took he would be there.
And then his father and mother, who were also bedside with Brendan, came up and hugged me which seemed like forever. They said over and over “thank-you for saving my son” and asked me to thank the doctors and MEDEVAC pilots who worked to save their son’s life. Overwhelmed and with many spilled tears, I could only utter that I would be glad to pass that message on.
About a half a year later, as we were getting ready to redeploy back to our home station in Hawaii, I received word that Brendan and his family were indeed flying to Hawaii to participate in our Division’s homecoming activities. Brendan’s platoon arrived home a couple days before his scheduled flight, and instead of Brendan meeting the platoon on their arrival, the platoon decided to meet Brendan at the Honolulu airport when he arrived, and the platoon of about 25 soldiers all received gate passes at the airport, and stood at the gate anxiously awaiting their brother-in-arm’s arrival.
I had heard that his platoon had set this reunion up, and was able to join them and stood off to the side, and watch the platoon and Brendan’s reunion. With the platoon patiently waiting, the plane arrived and offloaded all the passengers except for Brendan himself, who was the last passenger off the plane. And there with the entire platoon waiting, arms outstretched, everyone yelling and cheering, out came Brendan Marrocco with two prosthetic legs and two prosthetic arms, walking unassisted down the ramp into the arms of his platoon. There was not a dry eye anywhere, and against all odds, the platoon celebrated the reunion of their wounded brother-in-arms back into their platoon.
In December 2012, Brendan underwent a 13-hour operation to transplant two arms from a cadaver donor, and today he has partial use of both arms where before he only had two stumps. His mental and physical toughness are examples of the tenacity needed to overcome adversity and to persevere in the direst situations life has to offer.
Brendan Marrocco is a man of incredible mental and physical toughness and grit. Persevering through the most unthinkable circumstances, this man has never given up, never doubted, and he found the inner strength and will to persevere in these most challenging life changing circumstances.
Brendan’s story is a great example of strengths of the gut. Men and women who in the direst circumstances draw strength as they continue to move forward, and are therefore able to persevere over extended periods of adversity. Despite what adversity is thrown at them, with mental and physical toughness and grit, they are able to see their way through the challenges and overcome the obstacles thrown their way. Brendan is a great example of an individual who demonstrates strength of the gut.
Courage is not only a “flash in the pan.” Like Brendan, our character strengths of courage play out over the long haul. I pray we never have to endure challenges of the sort that Brendan experienced, but the day-to-day courage needed to persevere and succeed in life are no less exemplars of what is meant by the moral virtue of courage.
As we celebrate our national Veteran’s Day holiday, let us not forget the sacrifice and service of not only Brendan Marrocco, but of every other service member who raised their hand to selflessly serve our Nation and to stand in the gap between the evil that threatens our Country and our citizens themselves. And if you want to learn more about Brendan Marocco, there is a great article in both the NY Times and another in the Washington Post at the below links.
Thank a veteran today. Happy Veteran’s Day!