There are those who start filling out the paper work the moment  they see a little blood, and then there are others like U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kenneth Conde Jr:

Marine Fought for Several Days, Despite Gunshot Wound
By U.S. Marine Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald / 1st Marine Division
CAMP HURRICANE POINT, Iraq, April 21, 2004 — Marine Sgt. Kenneth Conde Jr. didn't even realize he had been shot until someone told him.

In the mid-afternoon hours of April 6, Conde's unit, 3rd Mobile Assault Platoon, Mobile Assault Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, received orders to help evacuate two Company G casualties wounded during a firefight in the Iraqi city of Ar Ramadi.

The sergeant called upon Cpl. Jared H. McKenzie and Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Cox to leave their vehicles and follow him to the front of the convoy. "Wherever Sergeant Conde goes, that's where we go," said Cox, of Saint Peters, Mo. "No questions asked. We just follow him."

Conde, McKenzie and Cox kept searching for the enemy. They exposed themselves to fire because it was the only way they could get a good look at enemy's firing positions. As they pushed forward, Conde was able to take out two shooters, but then things took a turn for the worse.

"I was running, and I watched as I got shot in the left shoulder," Conde said. "I remember seeing a red mist coming from my back."

Even though he saw himself get shot, it didn't occur to Conde to quit fighting. "I didn't really realize I had been shot until one of the Marines said something," he added.

According to McKenzie, Conde fired several shots, killing a combatant, before falling to the ground. He then managed to get back to his feet and fire a few more rounds at the enemy before falling again.

"We helped him up so he could get to the corpsman to get bandaged up," McKenzie, a 22 year old from Bonaqua, Tenn. "We made sure to kill the guys who shot him."

The corpsman treated Conde, who only wanted to get his gear and get back to the fight. Conde's Marines were out there and he knew his place was alongside them.

"We stayed and fought until every one of the insurgents was dead," Conde said. Before the day was through, 3rd MAP also raided the house of a former Baath Party member and seized a large weapons cache.

Over the next few days, Conde's unit participated in several other firefights until the violence died down. All the while, he nursed his wound, not giving into the pain and refusing to leave his Marines.

Only when his arm went numb, making it difficult to hold his rifle steady, did he finally give in and step out of the fight.

Back at the camp here, Marines asked Conde why he chose to stay and fight even after being shot.

"I told them that I couldn't just leave the fight when I still could keep going," he told them.

But it his actions didn't surprise his fellow Marines.

"He always told us that he would lead us from the front, and that we would never do anything if he wasn't doing it too," Cox explained. "After being in that firefight with him, I will always know that he is true to his word."

One tough Marine with fortitude.

RLTW

Sorry to throw cold water on your hero worship, but this is a textbook example of what happens when someone is so thoroughly indoctrinated by their training into a killing machine that they lose touch with their basic humanity.  That might very well make him a devastatingly effective weapon on the field of battle.  It does NOT, however, make him someone whom I'd trust with any key decisions OTHER than how to kill someone.

And frankly, if you are implying that THIS person would be effective at ANYTHING other than relentlessly killing other people, I'd be troubled by your judgement as well.

-- Modified on 5/12/2004 6:38:08 PM

I had the privilege of serving in combat-arms units for six years, nowhere else have I met more honorable men.

RLTW

Make no mistake - I have no doubt that this soldier makes a devastating weapon, or killing machine on the field of battle.  But he does not appear to have a properly functioning brain, if it is not sending him the signals that he is wounded.  And as such, while he is undoubtedly a devastatingly effective killing machine, that is ALL he is.  How, for example, without a properly functioning brain, could he distinguish between innocent civilians and enemy combatants?  We can only hope that he never comes in contact with innocent civilians during the heat of battle, or undoubtedly, he'd kill them along with the enemy, while his brain in unable to send him the ameliorating impulses that normal humans would receive in such circumstances.

My dad taught me when you are in command- you look after your guys!

He was in the cavalry and that started with the horses.  No drinkin' until they are watered. No rest until they are asleep.

I once played 3/4 of a Lax game with a broken hand becuase the other guys were all too small to stop anyone or out with worse injuries.

In command, in action you just do it and figure it all out later.

still totally unfair to use this to slam Kerry-  Vietnam was a war for americans where there were rest stops.  He waited until a break and got aid.  That he got a PH was not his fault- that's what people did in a morally bankrupted army.

If you want to see how a real jungle war is fought, read about Malaya/borneo and the Gurkhas/SAS.

But adrenaline doesn't last for several days, that's Fortitude. It's also a demonstration of outstanding leadership by an NCO. Rather than run off looking for a medal, Sgt. Conde stayed in the fight with his squad and led them through a successful mission. This "mindless killing machine", as sdstud so wrongly claims, will make a great leader in civilian life as well.

He will probably vote for Bush too! But then, that's what any self-respecting-mindless-killing-machine would do.

RLTW

-- Modified on 5/13/2004 8:53:38 PM

Perhaps a combination of both, adrenaline rush that lead to his fortitudinous finish.

He would be a man I would want next to me in battle, perhaps even a business associate.