Fighting New Battles - Arkansas National Guard

The Arkansas Minutemanarmy guard newsArkansas Army National Guard member receives Soldier’s Medalfor bravery in Iraq – Haines pulled Iraqi man from burning vehicleBy Staff Sgt. Chris A. Durney, Arkansas National Guard Public AffairsTo Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Haines ofHope, Ark., being presented the nation’shighest awards for non-combat relatedbravery is a source of pride for his wholeunit, and not just himself.Haines is a member of the ArkansasArmy National Guard’s CompanyA, 1-153rd Infantry of the 39th BrigadeCombat Team, and he thinks that anyone of his fellow Guard Soldiers arecapable of the same level of bravery thatearned him the Soldier’s Medal. “Thisis for all of you,” he said to his unit afterArkansas State Senator Percy Malonepinned the impressive medal on hisuniform. “I know all of your charactersand I know that if any one of you werein my place at the time, you would havedone the same.”Haines received the medal at aceremony May 21 in the Prescott HighSchool auditorium in Prescott, Ark.,where the unit is based. He earned thehonor for his actions in the aftermathof a car bomb explosion at a militarycheckpoint in Baghdad, Iraq, May 6,2004, while he was deployed with the39th.After getting word of the detonation,then-Staff Sgt. Haines led hissquad to the scene and quickly securedthe site. Disregarding his own safety,Haines dove into a burning vehicle toextract an Iraqi citizen who was seriouslyinjured and on fire. Haines pulledthe person away from the raging fire andcarried him over 50 yards to safety beforeimmediately administering medicalaid. He transferred the citizen to morequalified medical personnel, ultimatelysaving the man’s life, and then wentright back to directing his troops andextending the area perimeter.Malone also read an Arkansas StateSenate Citation officially recognizingHaines’ bravery and heroism, and thehonor he brings upon the state. Maj.Gen. Don C. Morrow, the adjutant generalof Arkansas, also took a few minutesto thank Haines for his selfless act.Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Haines of Hope, Ark., is congratulated by his family afterbeing awarded the Soldier’s Medal, the nation’s highest award for non-combatheroism. Haines is a member of Company A, 1-153rd Infantry of the ArkansasNational Guard’s 39th Brigade Combat Team. Following a car bomb explosion,Haines (a Staff Sgt. at the time) pulled an Iraqi citizen from a burning vehicle andcarried the man over 50 yards to safety and medical attention. The 39th returnedfrom a 18 month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in thespring of 2005. Pictured from left to right: Sgt. 1st Class Haines, his 15-year-olddaughter Emily, 12-year-old son Austin and wife of 20 years Linda. Haines ownsSWATS Security in Hope and has been with the Prescott-based Co. A for over 19years. (Photo by Sgt. Chris A. Durney.)“He is indeed an outstanding Soldier andhe is indeed a brave man,” said Morrow,“he deserves our thanks and our respectfor the terrific job he did that day undervery trying circumstances.”The Soldier’s Medal is awarded toany person of the Armed Forces of theUnited States, or of a friendly foreignnation, who distinguishes themselvesby heroism not involving actual conflictwith an enemy. The medal was establishedby Congress in 1926.“I’m very honored and proud tohave this award,” Haines said as his wifeLinda, daughter Emily and son Austinstood by his side at a reception followingthe ceremony. “But, it wasn’t just me,you know, my whole squad was thereand they were doing just as importantwork. So for them and the entire Guard,this is an honor.”Approximately 3,000 ArkansasSoldiers were deployed with the 39thand the 1st Cavalry Division during the18 month mobilization in support ofOperation Iraqi Freedom. The brigadereturned to the state in the spring of2005.Over 800 Arkansas Soldiers andAirmen are currently mobilized to Kosovo,Iraq and Afghanistan, with that numbergrowing to 1,700 by the end of July.Since September 11, 2001, the ArkansasNational Guard has mobilized nearly8,000 of its 10,000 service members insupport of the global war on terrorism.Page 36 Summer 2006