by Spc. J. Myles Kendrick

GNJILANE, Kosovo (Army News Service, Aug. 25, 1999) - As two
Kosovar females bled profusely from gunshot wounds, five
military police soldiers quickly reacted to save their lives.
Staff Sgt. Bryan Hunlock, Sgt. Heather LeBlanc, Spc. Meredith
Koogler, Pfc. Corey Fairchild and Pfc. Damon Parmenter, all from
the 1st MP Company, responded to a call Aug. 5, saving the lives
of a mother and her child who were shot while traveling to a
nearby village.
"Initially, we responded to a radio-call to investigate the
scene of a murder, but when we arrived, we found a Serb woman
and her young daughter were injured," said LeBlanc. "We didn't
know there were injured civilians at the location until we
arrived."
"Both of them were bleeding badly, so we had to act quickly,"
she said. "We worked together as a team; stabilizing the
patients, calling in a (medical evacuation) flight through our
tactical operations center and preparing a landing zone."
Armed men attempting to get them out of their vehicle accosted
the family, who was returning home to a small village just
outside of Gnjilane, according to reports.
"The father resisted and was shot in the head. He died
instantly," said Spc. Meredith Koogler, medic.
According to LeBlanc, the woman was shot at close-range with an
AK-47 assault rifle just above her knee leaving a wound the size
of a silver dollar.
"Both mother and child were bleeding profusely," Koogler said.
"The locals had brought the woman to a nearby house. We were
treating her there when someone asked about the second patient.
We weren't sure there even was a second patient, but they had
moved the 2-and-a-half-year-old girl into another house. The
situation became a little tense because the mother wanted to
know why we were keeping them separated."
According to Koogler, things really got busy then.
"The baby had wounds to her abdomen and thighs. We weren't sure
if they were small-caliber bullet wounds or shrapnel," Koogler
said.
All of the soldiers played a role in saving the civilians'
lives, she added.
"Pfc. Parmentor had the imperative task of keeping
communications with the TOC," said Staff Sgt. Bryan Hunlock,
squad leader. "He gave them the nine-line MEDEVAC request."
According to Hunlock, Fairchild selected the landing zone.
"The closest suitable LZ was approximately 200 meters away,"
Fairchild said. "We used two high-mobility multi-wheeled
vehicle's to mark the site, and we went out and waved a red
flashlight to signal the MEDEVAC flight."
"We stabilized them, brought color back to their faces and kept
them conscious and calm until the MEDEVAC arrived," LeBlanc
said. "Both were rushed to the combat support hospital at Camp
Bondsteel, where they went immediately into surgery. They're
doing fine," she added.
"I was really impressed by how smoothly the whole incident
went," Fairchild said. "We didn't do anything extraordinary.
We're in Kosovo to protect the lives of the local civilians and
help them when we can.  It is all just part of the mission."
The soldiers received 1st MP Company coins at the Camp Monteith
motorpool in recognition of their actions.
(Editor's note: Spc. J. Myles Kendrick is a staff member of Task
Force Falcon PAO.)