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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Family traditions and heritage are like
blood – passed down from one generation to the next.
For Navy
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie C. Harris, a hospital corpsman with
2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, and native of Knoxville,
Tenn., service in the medical field is his heritage.
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Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie C. Harris, a hospital corpsman
with 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, from Knoxville, Tenn.,
receives the Chief Hospital Corpsman George William “Doc” Piercy
award at the Marine Corps League Enlisted Awards, Sept. 25, 2013,
from Gen. James F. Amos, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, aboard
Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. Harris was awarded for increasing
combat readiness in a medical support element within the Fleet
Marine Force. (Official Marine Corps photo by CPL Sonia N.
Rodriguez)
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“My whole family works or has worked in the medical
field, so it's always been something that interest me. It's
kind of a family tradition,” said Harris. “My cousin was a
corpsman with 2nd and 4th Reconnaissance Battalion. I have
an uncle who was an Army medic and most women in my family
are nurses.”
While attending emergency medical
technician school, he felt torn regarding his next step in
life. The decision to either become a United States Marine
or continue his education by attend nursing school troubled
him.
“So I spoke to my
cousin about my dilemma, and he explained how he spent his
whole career with the Marines while working in a medical
field and how being a corpsman is the perfect solution to
the fork in the road I was facing,” Harris said.
So
Harris took his cousin's advice and enlisted in the Navy in
December of 2008.
Since then, he has deployed twice
in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, once with 3rd
Battalion, 2nd Marines, and the other with Bravo Company,
2nd Tank Bn. Because of his contributions while deployed
with 2nd Tank Bn., Harris was awarded the Chief Hospital
Corpsman George William “Doc” Piercy award at the Marine
Corps League Enlisted Awards Sept. 25, 2013.
During
the deployment, he took charge as the senior corpsman, which
made him responsible for a crew of three other corpsmen. He
then supervised medical care on a base of 500 Marines and
sailors.
“He is easily the most passionate person
here, and he really cares about his job, said Petty Officer
1st Class Robert Simons, the leading petty officer for 2nd
Tank Battalion Aid Station, from Palmyra, Ohio. “He will
jump through any hoop to get the job done.”
Harris
really enjoys being a corpsman and loves to work with
Marines.
“I am very proud to be in the Hospital
Corps especially serving on green side. Being a (2nd Marine
Division) corpsman was what I came in the Navy to do and I
would not choose anything else over it,” added Harris.
His fellow corpsmen follow the example and enthusiasm
Harris displays and his love of taking care of Marines.
“He embodies what being a corpsman really means,” Simons
said.
By USMC Official Marine Corps photo by CPL Sonia N. Rodriguez
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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