FRIDAY FOTO (May 28, 2021)

The Long Gray Line.

(U.S. Army Photo by Cadet Tyler Williams) Click on photo to enlarge the image.

The graduating class of cadets march across the reservoir bridge to Michie Stadium for graduation ceremonies at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York on May 22, 2021.

It was the first West Point graduation since 2019 where cadet families were allowed to attend. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, friends and family couldn’t witness the ceremony in person in 2020.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, a retired Army four star general and West Point graduate, was the commencement speaker for the Class of 2021.

We’ll have more details on this commencement and all the other service academy graduations in a roundup on Monday (May 30).

SHAKO: TWO HEROES, TWO WARS Part II:

The Navy Hospital Corpsman.

In recent weeks, the heroics of two men, one a soldier, the other a sailor, have come to our attention at 4GWAR Blog. To give each their due, we’ve decided to tell their stories separately in a two-part posting. Today, May 27, 2020 is the second installment.

Most Decorated Active Duty Corpsman Retires.

Petty Officer 1st Class Luis Fonseca, the U.S. Navy’s most decorated active duty hospital corpsman and a recipient of the Navy Cross for heroism in Iraq, retired at a May 14 ceremony in San Diego, California.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Luis Fonseca receives a flag from his son during a retirement ceremony held at  Fonseca was the Navy’s most decorated active duty hospital corpsman, and received the Navy Cross for heroism with the Marines in Iraq. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Luke Cunningham)

The Marine Corps does not have its own combat medics. That role is filled by Navy hospital corpsmen, better known simply as corpsmen. Fonseca served two combat tours with the Marines in Iraq in 2003 and 2005, and one tour with the Marines in the War in Afghanistan from November 2003 to May 2004. During that first tour in Iraq, serving with the First Marine Expeditionary Force as a 23-year-old hospitalman apprentice, treated and evacuated under heavy small arms and machine gun fire, five Marines severely wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade knocked out their armored vehicle and set it ablaze.

It happened during the Battle of Nasiriyah, the first major battle fought in Iraq by U.S. forces. For those actions, Fonseca was awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest U.S. military decoration for valor in combat.

Here is the citation for the medal:

Hospitalman Apprentice Luis E. Fonseca, Jr., stands with his Navy Cross citation for heroism during the battle of An Nasiriyah, Iraq, in March 2003. . (U.S. Navy photo by Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Wayne Nelms)

“The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Hospital Apprentice Luis E. Fonseca, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action against the enemy while serving as Corpsman,  Amphibious Assault Vehicle Platoon, Company C., First Battalion, Second Marines, Regimental Combat Team Two, Task Force Tarawa, First Marine Expeditionary Force, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on 23 March 2003. During Company C’s assault and seizure of the Saddam Canal Bridge, an amphibious assault vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade inflicting five casualties. Without concern for his own safety, Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca braved small arms, machine gun, and intense RPG fire to evacuate the wounded Marines from the burning amphibious assault vehicle and tend to their wounds. He established a casualty collection point inside the unit’s medical evacuation amphibious assault vehicle, calmly and methodically stabilizing two casualties with lower limb amputations by applying tourniquets and administering morphine. He continued to treat and care for the wounded awaiting evacuation until his vehicle was rendered immobile by enemy direct and indirect fire. Under a wall of enemy machine gun fire, he directed the movement of four casualties from the damaged vehicle by organizing litter teams from available Marines. He personally carried one critically wounded Marine over open ground to another vehicle. Following a deadly artillery barrage, Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca again exposed himself to enemy fire to treat Marines wounded along the perimeter. Returning to the casualty evacuation amphibious assault vehicle, he accompanied his casualties South through the city to a Battalion Aid Station. After briefing medical personnel on the status of his patients, Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca returned North through the city to Company C’s lines and to his fellow Marines that had been wounded in his absence. His timely and effective care undoubtedly saved the lives of numerous casualties. Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca’s actions reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions to the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.”

Over his nearly 22 years of naval service, Fonseca received three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals; two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals; two Combat Action Ribbons, (which are awarded to those who have actively participated in combat in a given theater); the Presidential Unit Citation; two Meritorious Unit Commendations; two Navy “E” Ribbons; two Good Conduct Medals; a National Defense Service Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the Humanitarian Service Medal; four Sea Service Deployment Ribbons; a Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon; a NATO Medal; a Rifle Marksmanship Medal (Expert); a Pistol Marksmanship Medal (Expert); as well as campaign medals for both Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the website Task & Purpose.

And that made Fonseca the most highly decorated active duty corpsman.

Fonseca and his wife, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Christina Fonseca, who officially retired in February 2021, retired together in a joint ceremony at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego on May14. The couple have a combined 46 years of Naval service.

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SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress, or parade, uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.