Positivity: Two Marines Save North Carolina Man’s Life

In Jacksonville, NC, two Marines earned medals for saving the life of a car accident victim in January:

Two corporals, one fateful moment, a life saved
June 04, 2006
CAROLYN ALFORD, DAILY NEWS STAFF

….. Marine Cpls. David Salmonsen and David Fontenot of HMT-302, MAG-29, 2ndMAW, at New River Air Station are like Fric and Frac — when you see one, you usually see the other. Always together, the two corporals, one from Philadelphia and the other from Louisiana, make a good team, but no more so than on the night of Jan. 14 when their combined efforts saved the life of an East Carolina University student from Jacksonville who was struck by a car on Charles Boulevard in Greenville.

On Thursday, the two stood side by side on the flight deck as Lt. Col. Tim Herndon patted them on the back and awarded them the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service for their quick thinking and heroic deeds that evening.

“I am extremely proud of them,” Herndon told the 120 Marines standing at parade rest beneath the blades of two helicopters. Overhead, other copters whined and whirred outside the hangar. “They performed in a manner that I hope we all would. We (Marines) not only take care of our own, we serve our fellow man. They saw a man in need and they risked their own lives to save him. There is nothing finer in my mind.”

Fontenot and Salmonsen were riding in a taxi down Charles Boulevard about 1 a.m. that fateful morning when an automobile in front of them struck a pedestrian. When the Marines reached the victim (whose name is being withheld at the request of the family) he was lying face down in the water on the busy highway. He had a laceration on his back and his right arm was partially severed and bleeding profusely. Fontenot removed his shirt and used it to apply pressure to the arm. The victim continued to bleed from the life threatening wound until the Marines applied a belt as a tourniquet. The Marines covered the unconscious man to keep him from going into shock and swept rain from his face so he could breathe until the emergency vehicles arrived. Physicians at the hospital said the Marines’ actions saved the life and arm of the college student.

“His noteworthy accomplishments, perseverance, and devotion to duty reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service,” the commendations read.

The Commendation Medal is usually awarded to gunnery sergeants or above for leadership and valor. Being a recipient of the Commendation Medal at the rank of corporal is a significant achievement, said Sgt. Maj. Blaine Jackson of HMT-302.

“Their heroic actions on the freeway saving someone is a big deal to me,” Jackson said, “but this day is all about them,” he said pointing to Cpls. Salmonsen and Fontenot.

Thursday was the first time the college student had met the men that had saved his life. It was his 23rd birthday and he said he felt blessed to be alive, to be there. With a skeletal cast still on his right arm, he and his family hugged the corporals and thanked them for Jan. 14 and all the days since. The women wiped tears from their eyes.

“I owe these guys my life,” he said. “I feel honored to be here. They went beyond the call of duty.”