48th IBCT Soldier credits Army Values for life-saving actions in Iraq

Story by Sgt. Tracy J. Smith
48th IBCT PAO

 SUWANEE, Ga. – In preparation for battle, warfighters train with one thing in mind, muscle memory. They constantly repeat and learn actions that are part of every Soldier’s common task training.  In battle, these tasks are vital components that must be carried out as effortlessly as taking a breath and done without thinking twice. 

Sergeant Travis Wayne Towler, a 119th Field Artillery combat medic assigned to a 48th Infantry Combat Team support company from the Maryland National Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom cited this muscle memory and the Army Values with allowing him to react quickly when his patrol was hit by explosives concealed in several suspicious vehicles three years ago.

“It happened very quickly,” Towler said as he recalled the event like it was yesterday.  “I can hear them (wounded soldiers) calling me as sure as I am standing here.” 

Towler and two of his fellow Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 115th Infantry were attacked.  Shrapnel from four separate devices caused serious injury to two of his fellow Soldiers and the medic from Grayson, Ga., found himself preparing two of his friends for medical evacuation, unaware of his own injuries. 

Towler recalled “that something was not quite right” upon return to the unit’s base. “When they (medics) examined me, I had some wounds to my head that I didn’t think were that serious, and when I took off my gear we saw a laceration on my knee.”

The laceration was a deep four inch gash that needed more intense treatment than could not be provided in Iraq.  He was flown to Lanstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he remained until one week before the brigade’s rotation home.

Returning to Iraq, Towler was not concerned with awards or accolades. He was busy catching up with the Soldiers that he had treated, and accepting the reassurances of his colleagues that his absence was part of the job. 

“The hardest part was being in Germany and not knowing what was going on with my unit,” he said. “I tried to focus on my therapy, but it wasn’t fair to be there and the other medics in my platoon having to take on extra patrol rotations.”

Arriving home, Towler struggled with the transition from combat to civilian life.  His assignment to a support unit was not what he really wanted, but with the 48th IBCT’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, he took control of his destiny and it brought him ‘full circle’ as he returned to his infantry roots with 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry.  It was what he had signed up for, Towler said.  It was there that he was encouraged to pursue the awarding of his Purple Heart.

The Veteran’s Administration did not immediately recognize his original submission.  Towler felt it was not worth the trouble and research, but his fellow Soldiers and Deborah Poirot, a congressional constituent services representative for 7th District Congressman, Rep. John Linder (R-Ga), helped him put the final pieces together and he was finally awarded his Purple Heart.

Towler settled back into his once-a-month military training schedule.  He was motivated to get back to what he originally signed up for – being an infantry Soldier who happened to be a medic trained in traumatic injury treatment. 

The official pinning ceremony was humbling, but it was the support of family and community that made it all possible. 

“It’s an honor and it’s different now that I have received the Purple Heart because I get asked a lot of questions about how it happened and how I felt,” Towler’s voice trails as he humbly takes in the day’s event. It is this invaluable spirit, sense of pride, adherence to the values and ethos of being a Soldier that drove his peers and his community to champion his cause three years later.

Headquarters and Headquarters Company executive officer 1st Lt. Aaron Holt addressed the well-wishers gathered to honor the combat medic, describing the privilege of serving with Soldiers of Towler’s caliber. 

"It was an honor to pin the Purple Heart on such a distinguished Soldier," Holt said.